Rob Morgan Is A Curious Person

This morning, my coffee smelled like a Wendy’s crispy chicken sandwich and I couldn’t have been more pumped about it. Here’s why…   Two years ago, I interviewed wine Sommelier and professional badass, Leslee Miller who taught me a phrase – “Thinking and Drinking” – that turned my curiosity on overdrive about expanding my palate for tasting different food and drinks.   I realized that – for years – when trying to describe the smell or taste of something, I was actually asking myself “What SHOULD I be smelling and tasting?” instead of “What AM I smelling and tasting?”   So I came up with a game I call “Hyper Specific Tasting Notes.” My friends and I do it all the time now and now, a couple years later, it’s  changed the way I eat and drink.   For the curious, join me on today’s Daily Guinness episode as I talk more about unlocking your palate with “Hyper Specific Tasting Notes”   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-32-how-would-sommelier-pair-wine-music-feat/id1231166203?i=1000407565409

This is the picture of a plywood-walled toilet in a New York City restaurant, and the couple who spent thirteen minutes of their first date four inches from me having explosive diarrhea.   I knew it was their first date because I was listening to every word they said while I was doing that thing where you squeeze to try not to poop too loud when you know others can hear you. Maybe throwing a perfectly timed muffle-flush here and there.   Speaking of explosive diarrhea…   For 70+ hours this week/end, the only time my feet hit the floor was when they were taking me from my bed to the toilet.   Literally three days into this “Daily Guinness” podcast experiment and I’m stuck racking up frequent flyer miles on the stool pool, pouring my own “pint of proper”… if you catch my drift.   The timing of this was THE WORST and it got me thinking:   Chances are, you’re like me and have been thinking of starting something ballsy, new, and maybe a little scary. When shit hits the fan at the start   (or literally, “the porcelain” in my case)   Should we view these events as an “Omen” (via Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist) or “Resistance” (via Steven Pressfield’s ‘The War Of Art’)?   One hints that we should shift directions, the other dares us to push forward. They seem to contradict each other and I chat about it on today’s “Daily Guinness” episode.

How do you go from someone with a ton of great ideas to actually acting on them?   Most people think the hardest part is coming up with great ideas or the acting on them. I disagree. Chances are, you have killer ideas coming to mind every day. Most of us haven’t gotten in the habit of keeping track of them, so they constantly evaporate into the universe.   Two years ago, I sat down over coffee to record Question #4 of the podcast with my friend Alex Grahmann who taught me that part of living a curious life is writing things down!   In today’s episode, I revisit part of our conversation, I talk about what approach I use to keep track of thoughts & ideas, and how this habit has transformed my life over the past two years of implementing it.     www.thecuriouspod.com | (612) 584-9330      My full orgiginal interview w/ Alex:    https://www.thecuriouspod.com/questions/2017/5/8/question-4-what-can-you-learn-from-an-international-lego-building-champion-feat-alex-grahmann

Today, I turned 35! EVERY DAY this year, I’ll be drinking a Guinness and recording a podcast as my friends and I define what it means to life a curious life! ----more---- Today, I talk about “failure” and a mental addiction that took me YEARS to recognize and even longer to break the habit of. ----more---- I call it “The Numbers Game” and it’s all about comparing my age and my life’s unique journey to that of others who I consider to be more successful than me. ----more---- I’m sure you’ve never dealt with it… but just incase you have… ----more---- www.thecuriouspod.com | (612) 584-9330 

聞く is a curious endeavor into the heart of listening through the art of binaural recording. Best listened to with the highest quality headphones you can get your hands on, I hope you enjoy this audio version of my essay originally published here: https://medium.com/@therobmorgan/%E8%81%9E%E3%81%8F-a-journey-into-the-heart-of-listening-and-binaural-recording-f77c47a1640a

June 4th, 2020 - 9:46am - 38th & Chicago, Minneapolis MN -  I live a block from where George Floyd was murdered at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer last week, making international news and sparking protests all throughout the US. For the past week, the corner of 38th & Chicago has been ground zero for the Minneapolis protests and now, eleven days later, continues to be an emotional memorial site with thousands of people driving in each day to visit. It’s early, but there’s already a few hundred people at the memorial. A garbage truck empties a dumpster in the distance along with a couple food trucks showing up to donate free meals to hungry memorial-goers. About halfway through recording, a group of five people begin to ring bells and blow into rams horns and I move closer to hear better. I’m not sure what it is but the sound of the chanting makes me think it’s a spiritual group of some sort.   聞く is a curious endeavor into the heart of listening through the art of binaural recording. Best listened to with the highest quality headphones you can get your hands on.    www.thecuriouspod.com | (612) 584-9330

For those of you that I’m friends with on social media, you know that I live a block from the killing of George Floyd. As angry and heartbroken as I am, I don’t feel right talking about my feelings at the the moment. It actually feels quite inappropriate. An extremely important and valuable part of my community is in massive amounts of pain right now and rightfully so. They don’t feel safe, seen, or heard - So I’d like to use my podcast platform to do what I do best, listen and amplify thoughts, voices and life stories that need to be heard. As always, I have no idea what the hell the future holds for the podcast so feel free to reach out on the podcast hotline if you know of someone who’d be a good guest. This week, we’re revisiting a conversation with Derrick Keith Rollins Jr. A singer-songwriter best known by his stage name, “Reverend Doctor." What should white people do about systemic racism? What’s it like to be the ’token black friend’? What does the transition from adorable black child to intimidating black adult look like when growing up in the midwest? What is racial tourism? This week, I sat down with Keith over coffee (remember getting coffee together???) to answer these questions and more.   https://www.thecuriouspod.com/

Due to COVID-19, the past couple months have shifted just about every aspect of our lives including our relationships and living situations. Almost overnight, many of us found ourselves quarantined at home spending 24/7 with our partners and navigating these new waters often takes an extra level of intentionality. So I decided to call up my friend Amanda Nephew, an LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist) and an Adjunct Professor at University of Northwestern-St Paul, to see if she had any tactical advice for us all both personally and with our partners. Join us as she explains why we need to be aware of our own personal “stress language” and gives a few tactile “To Do” and “Not To Do” things to consider at this time. For Links and more info, visit: https://www.thecuriouspod.com/questions/quarantinedcouples

A massive question my friends and I have been asking lately is, "How should I spend my time while stuck at home during this time of self-distancing?" A ton of people say you should "Hustle", make the most of this time, look for the opportunity in this situation, and spend it "CRUSHING IT!!!!" But... I don't always have that in me to 'make the most of this situation." I've found myself emotionally all over the spectrum this past week from creating to sitting on the couch, from connecting online to turning my phone off and just ignoring the world... here's what I've learned so far.   WEBSITE | MAP | iTUNES | INSTAGRAM | 'Daily Guinness' INTRO SONG | YOUTUBE

If you’re like me, it’s tough knowing who to listen to when it comes to media coverage on COVID-19, aka “The Coronavirus.” A quick GOOGLE search will simultaneously tell you that it’s no big deal, and also that it’s the end of the world. One look at some of the overreacting people I’ve seen at Target here in Minneapolis and you’d think it was the zombie apocalypse.    I NEED UNBIASED INFORMATION GROUNDED IN FACTS and I’m curious: How serious is it, and what actions should we take?   Thanks Science Mike for being a source of calm, intelligent, non-emotionally charged, information to help bring some clarity to the situation.   Mike’s Website: https://mikemchargue.com/