The SuperHuman Academy Podcast

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today we are joined by Josh Clemente. Josh, the founder of Levels, is a mechanical engineer and CrossFit-L2 trainer. At SpaceX, he led a team to develop life support systems that sustained astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their May 2020 trip to the International Space Station aboard Dragon Endeavor: the first new crew-carrying spacecraft since 1980. Josh has also spent time designing and building Hyperloop technology and leading engineering for a company providing vehicle-based rescue systems for emergency response teams. But, we barely talked about any of that stuff today, because, as I already mentioned, Josh is the founder of a really fascinating company that I've been following for a while, called Levels. Their idea is that wearables are nice, but they rarely give you real, powerful data about what's going in your body. Well, Levels is trying to change that, by coming out with the first consumer-available continuous glucose monitor. Now, you've probably heard the hardcore biohackers in the world, like Dave Asprey and Tim Ferriss, wearing these glucose monitors that they need all kinds of connections to get, and all the wonderful things you can learn by wearing a glucose monitor. So, I wanted to learn what the big deal is with these, and why it's such an important technology to put in the hands of consumers. I ended up learning a lot about what turns out to be one of the most important molecules in the body - glucose - which powers almost everything that you do. And that's why we need to make sure that we have just the right Goldilocks level layers in our body at all times - more about this in the episode. I think you are really going to enjoy this episode, as I did! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today we are joined by Stephan Spencer. Stephan is a bestselling author of 3 books, serial entrepreneur, Internet luminary, life hacker, podcaster, and contributor to Harvard Business Review and AdWeek. His books are The Art of SEO, Social eCommerce, and Google Power Search. Stephan has optimized the websites of some of the biggest brands in the world, including Chanel, Volvo, Sony, and Zappos. But that's actually not what we cover in today's episode! You see, Stephan is also one of the most incredible personal transformation stories that I've ever heard - and I have heard a lot. He went from being in a different, and somewhat dark, place in his life to completely transforming everything about himself, and in a pretty short time too. In the episode, I ask him more about that transition and transformation than I've ever had the opportunity before in polite conversation with him. We talk about the event that started it all, about personal growth as a field, and some of the incredible and transformational experiences he has had traveling the world with folks like Tony Robbins, and working with some of the top thought leaders on the planet. Of course, we also share many useful tips that you can use to spark your own transformation and move past skepticism and into awareness and openness. I think it was a really fun, engaging and entertaining conversation, that I'm sure you will enjoy as well! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today I was joined by Dr. Enric Sala. Dr. Sala is a National Geographic explorer in residence, dedicated to restoring the health and productivity of the ocean. He's authored over 120 scientific publications, which are widely recognized and used for real-world conservation efforts, such as the creation of marine reserves. Dr. Sala has also founded and leads National Geographic's Pristine Seas, a project that combines exploration research and media to inspire country leaders to protect the last wild places in the ocean. To date, they've created 13 of the largest marine reserves on the planet, covering an area of 4.5 million square kilometers. Dr. Sala has also received a ton of awards, including the Young Global Leaders award by the World Economic Forum, the 2013 Research Award from the Spanish Geographical Society, and many, many more. Now you might be wondering, what does an environmentalist and conservationist have to do with being SuperHuman? Well, if you've listened to the last 289 episodes you know that so much of optimizing our health is dependent on the health of our planet. It's dependent on things like being able to get healthy and high-quality foods, and on being able to enjoy the sunshine, nature, and fresh air. And, lately, I have been more and more concerned about the state of our planet, and about the condition we are leaving it in for the next generation. And yet, like so many of you, I've felt powerless, and I've not known how I, not an engineer, not a politician, not a leader of a Fortune 500 company, how can I make a difference and ensure that we all have a place to live, that is habitable for us 50 years from now. So in this quest, I had the opportunity to interview, Dr. Sala who turns out is a big fan of the show, and asked him, why is this important and how can we actually make a difference. I think you're going to be very empowered by this episode - I certainly was! There are some real actions that you can take, and in this episode, you're going to learn not only why the health of our oceans is so important to our health, but also how you can take action and how you can make a difference. -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! First, let me tell you that I am very protective of my time, so it is very very rare that I stay on talking to a guest for hours, and just chat, learn, and grow. But that's exactly what I did with today's guest, who is probably one of the more interesting human beings you will meet. You see, I asked a mutual friend of ours, Joe Polish, "who should I have on the show?" - because we as you know are in the last 15 episodes of the show. So, I asked Joe about some of the most interesting people that he knows, who I should have on these last 15 episodes, and he immediately told me that Jeff Madoff, today's guest, was available. Now, let me tell you a bit about Jeff. He's considered a storyteller and incisive interviewer, and he's used those talents to help position major brands such as Ralph Lauren, Victoria's Secret, Radio City Music Hall, and the Harvard School for Public Health - but, he actually began his career as a fashion designer. He was chosen as one of the top 10 designers in the US, and then he switched careers - we talked about that a lot. After switching to film and video production, he has since expanded his reach to include teaching, book and play-writing, and theatrical producing. Jeff is also an adjunct professor at Parsons School for Design, where he teaches a course called“Creativity: Making a Living with Your Ideas”, and his book is titled almost the same. In addition to all these, Jeff has been featured as a speaker at the Wharton School, NYU Steinhardt, North Carolina State, SXSW Brazil, Google Next, and many others. He's also written a play that'll be coming out in May of 2021. Now, about this conversation. I promised Jeff that we would go wide and range all over the place, and we certainly did. We talk about creativity, about leadership, about entrepreneurship, about growth and a growth mindset, and we talk about massive career changes, as well as life satisfaction. Honestly, this was one of the more rewarding podcasts. It was so good that, for a moment, I wished that we weren't coming to a close at 300 episodes but alas, we must all move on and all good things must come to an end. I'm sure that you will enjoy this episode as much as I did! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today, ladies and gentlemen, I got the chance to interview a personal hero of mine - someone who I discovered probably half a decade ago, and whose work has dramatically impacted my life, my body, and the way that I feel. I'm talking, of course, about Dr. Kelly Starrett. Dr. Kelly Starrett is a doctor of physical therapy. He is a New York Times bestselling author of Becoming a Supple Leopard, as well as various other books, such as Ready To Run. He's also widely known as one of the founding fathers of CrossFit - though I understand he's no longer affiliated with it - and he is known as one of the top movement, mobility, kinesiology, physical therapy, and personal training experts on the planet. In fact, he trains police forces and special forces, and he talks all over the country and the world about these topics. And for good reason. Because, as you're going to see in this episode, Kel, as he told me to call him, knows more about the human body than probably anyone you will ever meet. He knows how to train it. He knows how to fix it. He knows how to teach you how to fix, maintain, and train it, and in this episode, we go wide - trust me, he did not disappoint. Personally, I've read a lot of his work and I've heard most of his interviews. And yet, even I learned something about how we can not only reevaluate the way that we treat our bodies, the way that we maintain our bodies, but what we can expect out of our bodies, and how we can face even old age, with strength, without pain, and with range of motion. I think this episode is really going to change the way that you look at your body and look at aging. And I hope that it is going to change the way that you act in your body, the way that you use your body. Dr. Starrett gives you a simple piece of homework here, that takes 10 minutes a day, and I promise you, if you do it, your life will change. I really enjoyed this episode, as you can tell, and I know you are going to as well - so please enjoy! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today I was joined by Dr. Bill Sears, father of eight, author of 47 books, former associate professor at the University of Toronto, University of South Carolina, and the University of Southern California School of Medicine, as well as many more universities. Dr. Sears has appeared on over 100 national TV shows, his contributions to family and health were featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and he currently lectures on mental wellness. I think that's the first time I've ever had a guest who has been featured on the cover of Time Magazine! I also think that one of the more impressive things about his bio is that he has been a pediatrician for 50 years - yes, he is 80 years old, and still full of energy and vitality as you will see on the show, which, alone, gives him so much credibility in today's topic. That is the topic of brain health, something that we all should be concerned about. As I learned, as I was shocked to learn in this episode, brain health has now outpaced heart disease as one of the leading killers, if not the leading killer, in America. I was shocked to discover that, and, in this episode, we talked about the five pillars of brain health, as discussed in Dr. Sears, latest book The Healthy Brain, published in April of 2020. I learned a lot in this episode, and it was a great review for a lot of things that I talk about in our SuperLearner Masterclass: the importance of sleep, the importance of the right nutrition (not all that is billed as healthy nutrition is the right nutrition), and the importance of exercise. But, I also learned additional new things that really blew my mind and I think are going to blow your mind as well. This episode has something for everyone, whether you're concerned about your parents and their brain health as they get into older age, whether you're concerned about yourself, and doing things now that are going to allow you to live a long and full life with a healthy brain, or if like me, you are expecting a child and want to do everything you can from pregnancy onward to ensure that that child has a healthy and happy brain. I really enjoyed this episode, and I know you will too! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Today we are joined by Dr. Vincent Pedre. Dr. Pedre is a functional medicine-certified doctor, and the author of the best-selling book Happy Gut. Now, I wanted to have Dr. Pedre on the show, not because we haven't talked about gut health in the past, but because I wanted to understand the link between gut health and immunity - a very important topic during the Covid-19 pandemic. I wanted to understand what is the connection between the microbiome, something that we've talked about with regards to mood, obesity, and overall health, and our overall immunity - which, as it turns out, is very related. I learned a lot in this episode, and I'm sure you will as well! Enjoy! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! In this week's episode, we are once again joined by Dr. Ann Shippy, a former IBM engineer turned traditional medicine doctor, turned functional medicine doctor, turned author, and TEDx speaker. She attended the University of Texas Medical School, after leaving a career at IBM engineering for 10 years. Today she runs a thriving medical practice in Austin, Texas, and is board certified in internal medicine and functional medicine. Now, I wanted to have Dr. Shippy back on the show because, last time, we talked more about fasting and preventing disease, but I wanted to get a better sense of, first off, what epigenetics is, and what it practically means for us. And then I wanted to go a little deeper into mold, because Dr. Shippy has actually written an entire book on mold, as well as go a little deeper on diet, too. So, we expand on everything we talked about last time in the episode, and we also refresh and relearn. I really enjoyed this episode and I learned quite a bit, and that's a pretty good indication that you are going to enjoy this conversation as well! -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! Welcome to this week's episode, where we actually have a very special one for you! You've probably heard me talk about today's guest before, Dr. Juli La Rocca, as a star SuperLearner student, and then someone who also took my Branding You program, and has gone on to just become so successful and influential, do incredible things, and help people all over the place. Her story starts as a traditional Western medicine doctor who went from a lot of struggles, trials, tribulations, depression, suicidal thoughts, and much more as you'll discover, to learning, growing, changing, evolving, and becoming a coach to very successful people. She's an incredible woman, she's actually one of my coaches right now, and she has helped me through so many incredible breakthroughs in the last year that we've been working together. So, I thought I would bring her to all of you, because not only does she have an incredible story, and an incredible amount of wisdom to share, but she is the epitome of a SuperLearner, going from not knowing anything about the thought leader business - her words, not mine - to where she is now. Now, the student truly has become the teacher, and she is a valued coach of mine and teaches me so much about how to live my life and how to take good care of myself. So, again, I thought why hog all her wisdom for myself. I wanted to bring her to all of you, and we had an incredible conversation as we always do about life, about what's important, about different tools that you can use to perform at your highest level, and about simplifying, which I think is a really important thing that we all need to be thinking about right now. I heard an incredible quote the other day from a former Disney executive who said "in the rush to go back to normal, take time to consider which parts of normal are worth going back to". I think that is so profound. I think this podcast episode will help you think, and start that conversation with yourself. So it is with great pleasure that I introduce you all to Dr. Juli La Rocca. -Jonathan Levi

Greetings, SuperFriends! I am really excited about today's episode, where we are joined by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, who has become one of my closer friends and professional contacts. If you listen to the show, or anything that I do, you've heard me quote Dr. Hardy significantly over the past few years, since his work has become a massive influence on my life and the lives of those I care about. In this episode, we are going to talk about his new book: Personality Isn't Permanent. Throughout the episode, we talk about how much of that we think about personality is actually wrong. We learn how personality is actually formed, and how you can take an active role in designing the personality that you wish to have. Pretty exciting stuff, and I really enjoyed the episode - I'm sure you will as well. I would also consider it a personal favor if you went and bought a copy of Personality Isn't Permanent! Enjoy the episode! -Jonathan Levi