Happiness, Robin Williams, and Chernobyl | Feeding Frenzy #34
Feeding Frenzy is a weekly post that is a collection of knowledge to absorb. Every week you can expect something worth listening, reading, watching, and pondering. Think of this as a boost of the signal above the noise!
In this edition, I share a podcast from NPR's Hidden Brain on Happiness. We have articles on Robin William and mental health. Worth watching this week, we have a TEDx Talk from Ericka Alston on recovery, acceptance, and HBO miniseries Chernobyl. As always, a few more exciting things that are worth your time!
Worth Listening
You 2.0: The Pursuit of Happiness | Hidden Brain
As humans finding the place of happiness is elusive, we get glimpses of what that may be, but we still are in pursuit as many wise people have said it's in the journey, not the endpoint.
As an example, when the pandemic started, I was excited to start a new workout routine. With my local gym closed, I had no choice but adapt to running and biking as my movement of choice. I haven't enjoyed either exercise as much until now. Lately, I've been getting back into the gym. I forgot how much I enjoyed deadlifts and free weights to waking up and feeling the muscle soreness. Neither type of workout is better, but I was able to derive more enjoyment when there was time away and leaning into adapting at the moment.
Worth Reading
Robin Williams | Peter Attia
In many cases, outside looking into someone life is much harsher than they should be. When I see stories like Robin Williams, it breaks my heart because he was someone who set out to make others laugh. In those moments, he got you out of your head. Robin will be remembered as nothing short of a genius. After reading this, I found out that there will be a documentary on Robin William's releasing on September 1st. You can watch the trailer for Robin's Wish here.
Silicon Valley and Wall Street Elites Pour Money Into Psychedelic Research | The Wall Street Journal
"Psychedelic research has been thought of as 'fringe' for a long time. But there's nothing 'fringe' about PTSD," he said in a statement. "There are millions of people with PTSD in the U.S. alone, and that includes veterans like me, first responders like those on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, and survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse. All of them deserve better, significantly more effective treatment options than we give them today." - Bob Parsons
This has been a big week for Psychedelic research. Shortly after releasing my conversation with Jonathan Lubecky, who was a patient during phase 2 trials, I received an email from MAPS that the Capstone funding had been reached. That means the $30 million needed to fund phase 3 trials was reached, and now it's on to execution! As the above article is about financial support to get this funding off the ground, I believe what's more important are the notes at why these people have chosen to donate. Many of them have similar reasoning to the quote above. I couldn't agree more, and if you want to learn more about MAPS and treating PTSD, check out my conversation with Jonathan Lubecky.
Worth Watching
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told | Ericka Alston | TEDxHampdenWomen
Here's part of the description of this TEDx Talk: I am what despair and abuse, abandonment, hopelessness, and depravity look like. However, I don't look like it on the outside, so you don't treat me like where I've been. Through a suicide attempt, I was introduced to recovery. Recovery introduced me to me. Someone I had never met.
Did the Food Pyramid Make Us Fat? | Freethink
To address rising health problems in the 1980s, scientists and policymakers developed the U.S. Food Pyramid to encourage healthy eating. But despite a massive public education campaign, obesity and diabetes continued to rise. What happened? How did we get it so wrong?
Chernobyl | HBO
I know I am late to the party on this show, but while spending all of the time at home, I was able to binge this show. I am impressed by the level of detail they captured this story. I went into a bit of a rabbit hole in understanding the reaction around the Chernobyl disaster. It seems that as humans, we deny how bad the situation may be. One of the core messages of this show is how to take equal parts of action and skepticism. In the case of Chernobyl, the people who were making decisions couldn't stand idly by to save face. They had to take action to stop further damage from occurring.
Chernobyl, a five-part miniseries co-production from HBO and Sky, dramatizes the story of the 1986 nuclear accident, one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history — and of the sacrifices made to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Worth Pondering
"Remember when you wanted what you now have?" - Attribution Unknown
A friend shared this quote with me earlier in the week, and I found it incredibly powerful. We spend so much time working to achieve the goals that once reached. We forget to savor it. We have to learn to lean into the challenges that are brought by achieving our goals. I think this pairs well with You 2.0: The Pursuit of Happiness.
This week is a wrap and plenty to chew over for this week! Feel free to let us know any thoughts and suggestions that may contribute to these posts. It may pop-up on Feeding Frenzy or develop into a full-fledged article of its own.
Stay curious, and have a great week!
You can find previous editions here.
Recent podcast episodes you might enjoy:
Recent blog you might enjoy:
Today on the podcast, we are joined by Joe Jackowski. Joe is a Marine Corps veteran and current graduate student at Vanderbilt University in the Cognitive Psychology in Context program. His primary interest is meaning in life, which broadly extends to problems in ethics, A.I., and culture.
In this episode, we sit down to discuss his first long-form article on his new sub stack, Apotheosis: A Philosophy for Influencers