The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we have a fascinating conversation about race and popular culture, particularly around what’s happened recently in the United States following the murder of George Floyd and the protests and uprisings that have followed. As you will hear, this event follows an unfortunate pattern and history that sadly, spans decades. I wanted to explore them within some historical and cultural context. So, I invited Dr. Todd Boyd, aka “The Notorious PhD” onto the podcast – and he graciously accepted. If you are new to Dr. Boyd, he is the Katherine and Frank Price Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Boyd is an author, media commentator, producer and scholar. The has appeared in numerous documentaries, most recently in the popular Netflix series “The Last Dance” which was about Michael Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls. He wrote and produced the cult classic film “The Wood” and produced the Netflix documentary “At All Costs”. Dr. Boyd’s books include The Notorious PhD’s Guide to the Super Fly 1970s, Young, Black, Rich and Famous, The New H.N.I.C. and Am I Black Enough For You? He has written articles for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, amongst others. Dr. Boyd is a pioneer. He developed a new field of study in the 1990s on Hip Hop culture. His work makes connections across sport, cinema, music, fashion, art and politics. This not just  a conversation about race in the USA – and by extension many other countries. It is also a conversation about the importance of popular culture and how culture does more than merely reflect society – it can help shape it in unseen and often uncertain ways. Show notes: Dr. Todd Boyd Dr. Boyd on Twitter Dr. Boyd on Instagram Recent piece by Dr. Boyd in the The Guardian on racism in Hollywood 1943 Detroit Race Riot 1967 Detroit Race Riot The Watts Riot / Watts Rebellion Rodney King Riot Ali – Liston II fight Yo! MTV Raps Colin Kaepernick and Roger Goodell 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute Jim Brown Craig Hodges Jackie Robinson Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf The Last Dance Isiah Thomas and the Dennis Rodman comments on Larry Bird The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Stokely Carmichael Angela Davis Eryka Badu _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

This episode takes on a topic we’ve not tackled before – sentientism. My guest is Jamie Woodhouse. Jamie is an advisor, campaigner and a former colleague of mine (he was a partner at Accenture). For the purposes of this episode however, he is a sentientist. Sentientism is an ethical philosophy that uses reason and evidence to consider all sentient beings – that is, beings that can experience suffering or flourishing. Jamie runs a website on the topic, campaigns and provides thought leadership on this topic. This is a conversation that is increasingly relevant given Covid19 and our relationship with the natural world. It is also relevant because it isn’t possible to discuss this topic without discussing reason, evidence and science. In this episode, we cover: What sentientism is and arguments for it; How it differs from ethical veganism; Why secular humanism (which embraces human reason and ethics as the basis for morality and decision-making) needs an overhaul; Tribalism and why many of us don’t change our minds in light of evidence contrary to our views; Sentientism and artificial intelligence – which led us to the film Blade Runner of course; Much more Show notes: Sentientism.info; Sentientism on Twitter; Sentientism Facebook Group; Jamie’s website; Jamie on Twitter; Akrasia Peter Singer Jonathan Haidt The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord Solipsism Blade Runner _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Today we welcome back John Perkins to the podcast. If you are new to John, he is the author of the New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. He has written and spoken extensively on the global economy, American imperialism, and the so-called “death economy”. However, there is another fascinating side to John. He has studied shamanism for decades, dating back to the late 1960s during his time in the Peace Corps in Ecuador. John is also the founder and a board member of both Dream Change and the Pachamama Alliance, both of which are organisations dedicated to establishing a world that future generations will want to inherit. John’s latest book is called Touching the Jaguar – Transforming Fear Into Action to Change Your Life and the World. This is a book in which John combines his background in the global economy with his experience in shamanism, healing, and indigenous wisdom. Here at All Things Risk we strongly believe in the power of combining domains of knowledge and expertise and John provides that. This is a conversation that is inspiring – with the authentic, grounded and wise type of inspiration we so desperately need given where things seem to be going in the world. In it, we discuss John’s background as an “economic hit man”, shamanism, ayahuasca, but the bulk of it focuses on fear and perception. This is what the “touching the Jaguar” metaphor is about. John also describes and exercise we can all do to help us make change happen. Enjoy! Show notes: John’s website Touching the Jaguar – Transforming Fear Into Action to Change Your Life and the World Dream Change The Pachamama Alliance Ayahuasca B Corporation The Green New Deal The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist Ep 51 with John Perkins _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Our latest update with Daniel Wagner on Covid19 and the geopolitical state of the world focuses on what’s been happening in the USA with the race-related protests and riots, the latest on Covid19, what has been happening between the USA and China and lots more. Show notes: Daniel’s latest book – The America-China Divide: The Race to Control the World in Amazon and in Amazon’s UK site Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/countryriskmgmt Daniel’s company, Country Risk Solutions: http://countryrisksolutions.com/ Daniel’s other recent books: China Vision on Amazon’s US site China Vision on Amazon’s UK site AI Supremacy Virtual Terror NPR Podcast – “American Police” Daniel’s latest  article on the US presidential election “Wolf Warrior” diplomats and China’s ambitions History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Ep. 91 with Daniel and Keith Furst and Ep 132, Ep 129,  Ep 124, Ep 119 Ep 102 Ep 98  Ep 69,  Ep 57, Ep 17 and Ep 10 with Daniel Wagner _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Today’s episode in many ways is about resilience. There is an awful lot happening right now. We have a global pandemic of course, there are riots happening the USA following the murder of George Floyd – and protests around the world because of that event, a global economic recession, not to mention all the other stuff happening before all of this. There is plenty of risk and uncertainty out there (and let’s not forget, opportunity). On top of that, we are all dealing with whatever personal stuff we have going on because well, we are all human. As a result, we need to think about resilience, and that means, getting back to basics – the breath. That may sound strange. However, most people don’t know how to breathe properly. When we don’t breathe well, it increases stress, reduces resilience, and our overall quality of life. My guest today is Patrick McKeown. Patrick is a world-renowned author and breathing practitioner. His book, The Oxygen Advantage, is based on years of scientific research. Patrick tailors his breathing exercises for anyone looking to improve their health, fitness, and sports performance. He works with professional and Olympic athletes. We was recently made a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in the UK for his contribution to and understanding of breathing. His message is simple – how we breathe at rest and exercise affects our health, including our mental health and our performance. That means nasal breathing and as you will hear, light breathing. And this also means nasal breathing throughout the day – sleeping, exercise, work and rest. Patrick shares a ton of fascinating stuff about the breath, including: Why most of us don’t breathe properly and what we can do about that; The benefits of nasal breathing; Breathing and anxiety and depression; Why taking so-called ‘deep breaths’ is bad advice; Exercises we can do to test and improve our breathing; Comparisons between what Patrick does and the Wim Hof technique; Tons more! Show notes: Patrick McKeown The Oxygen Advantage Patrick’s YouTube Channel Links to the studies mentioned by Patrick 2 tests you can do – The Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) and The Maximum Breathlessness Test Oura rings The Vagus Nerve Parasympathetic nervous system The Bohr Effect Stanford Medical School study on breathing and tranquillity The Wim Hof method _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Dr. Jason Selk, a top performance coach and sports psychologist for the St. Louis Cardinals during their World Series triumphs, shares his expertise on developing mental toughness. He discusses the importance of mental training for overcoming uncertainty, especially in today's world. Listeners learn about structured mental workouts like '10-minute toughness' and the power of visualization in achieving goals. Selk emphasizes shifting from a victim mentality to a proactive mindset for continual personal growth and resilience.

As the global coronavirus pandemic continues, more and more is being said and written about the mental health impact it is having. Dealing with uncertainty can be mentally draining. So, this and our subsequent episode will focus on mental conditioning – the ways in which our thought patterns, emotions and physiology affect our judgement. This is something we have talked about before on the show but the current situation brings it all into sharp relief. My guest today is Mike Clark. Mike is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and has a Masters in Sports Psychology. Mike works with all types of performers – from athletes in a variety of sports to musicians – to help them improve their mental game. Even though Mike and I recorded this episode just before the Covid19 lockdowns, I am amazed at how prescient and useful it is. Mike discusses and shares tips and techniques around: Fear and uncertainty; Cognitive fusion; Resilience; Reframing; Body language Much more! Show notes: Mike Clark; Mike’s company Clark Performance Consulting; Mike on Twitter; Mike on Instagram; Twitter thread – Clark Kent, Superman and problem solving versus problem prevention; The Association for Applied Sports Psychology; IMG Academy; Michael Sachs; _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

This is a special episode for me. My guest is none other than my father, Julian Cattaneo. My dad is a retired university professor. He taught Business Administration at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. That’s where he is based, but it’s not where he was born, nor is it where I was born. This conversation is based on my mom and dad’s decision to emigrate from Argentina to Canada in 1977. I was only four years old at the time. That is a major decision for anyone to make and I wanted to explore the whys and hows of that decision with him. I think there is a lot that you can take away from it. It is nice but a bit strange to interview your father. I recorded this in early March in Canada. I am based in the UK but was visiting. This was just before the declaration of a global pandemic because of Covid19 . Like many of you with loved ones, particularly older loved ones, I don’t know when I will see him again and I am concerned for him given what coronavirus does to older people. However, I am grateful to have had this conversation and to bring it to you. We cover: The context around life in Argentina in the 1970s and the reasons for the move; How he and my mother made the decision; The push and pull any decision to immigrate; Life in North America; How the decision worked out; Any “rules” or a philosophy my dad has around how the runs his life Show notes: The University of Windsor The University of Michigan Argentine foods mentioned:             Mate             Dulce de leche The Dirty War Germany’s Gastarbeiter programme Bad math on at MSNBC Ben Goldacre Some books on Argentine history:             A History of Argentina in the 20th Century by Luis Alberto Romero             Dirty secrets, dirty war by Robert J. Cox             A State of Fear: Memories of Argentina’s Nightmare by Andrew Graham-Yooll             Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number by Jacobo Timerman _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Today we talk about decision-making, resilience, mental training and more with our guest, Chris Sparks. Chris is a professional poker player who was ranked among the Top 20 of the world’s best online players. It is this experience making an exponential number of decisions and performing at an elite level that has given Chris a number of insights and practices that he has further developed. He helps people apply these to both their work and their personal growth.If you listen to a couple of our previous episodes with Annie Duke and Alec Torelli you will know that poker mimics life because it is a game that involves decision-making under uncertainty and incomplete information. This makes Chris’ expertise and experience highly transferable. He is the founder and CEO of The Forcing Function, a company that is dedicated to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurship. In this episode, Chris shares a wealth of very useful techniques to improve performance and deal with uncertainty and that are incredibly useful, particularly now. We cover: Decision-making techniques; What to do when things go wrong; Why we are all “mental athletes” and the importance of mental training; The importance (and limitations) of story; What Chris learned at Davos Much more! Show notes: The Forcing Function Chris on Twitter The Forcing Function’s Expected Value Calculator The Fermi problem Firebreak Narrative bias Article – Manage Your Energy Not Your Time _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence

Three weeks ago, we released an update episode on Covid19 with today's guest Daniel Wagner. It proved to be a very popular episode. That's perhaps not surprising given there is a lack of broad, balanced and thoughtful big picture analysis of what is going on.  As a result, we decided to record another - this one was recorded on April 18, 2020 and we cover: -More on the USA's response; -An update on the origins of the virus based on a new chapter to Daniel's book The America-China Divide; -What we can expect in the near future; -Postives from the situation; -Much more! Show notes: Lloyd’s City Risk Index Daniel’s latest book – The America-China Divide: The Race to Control the World in Amazon and in Amazon’s UK site Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/countryriskmgmt Daniel’s company, Country Risk Solutions: http://countryrisksolutions.com/ Remdesivir Daniel’s other recent books: China Vision on Amazon’s US site China Vision on Amazon’s UK site AI Supremacy Virtual Terror Ep. 91 with Daniel and Keith Furst Ep 129,  Ep 124, Ep 119 Ep 102 Ep 98  Ep 69,  Ep 57, Ep 17 and Ep 10 with Daniel Wagner _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com