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, AI, and culture.

In this episode, we sit down to discuss his first long-form article on his new substack, Apotheosis: A Philosophy for Influencers.

In this podcast episode, Jordan Criss returns to discuss life and fulfillment. We cover topics such as imposter syndrome, healthy habits, procrastination, and focusing on what matters most to you, regardless of the outcome. Life is about playing a long game. What are your thoughts or experiences related to these ideas?

In this episode, Joe and Erich discuss their experiences in 2022 and their plans for 2023. They reflect on how they felt stagnant in the previous few years and lay the groundwork for the reemergence that started in late 2022. They talk about the shift in momentum when Joe began to live streams after moving to Nashville in mid-2022. Erich also talks about pushing himself physically with runs and rides, which has led to his commitment to run in the Chicago Marathon in 2023. They mention how the book "The Comfort Crisis" has influenced them to get more comfortable with the uncomfortable. They also talk about Joe's pursuit of a master's and Ph.D. and the importance of being critical of human culture and striving for something greater. They believe that setting aspirational goals, even if the likelihood of achieving them is small, can lead to personal growth and embodiment of those goals.

On today's podcast, we are back talking cyberpunk! We've been discussing it off the air and realized we had more to say on a broader level than what we've talked about from Edgerunner's show. What do you think a positive world with technology looks like? How does humanity positively explore possible futures, in contrast to all of the negative varieties that we see?

In today's podcast, we are diving into Nietzsche on Resentment. The book we will explore is On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche.

I'm joined by returning guest and friend Joe Jackowski. We discuss Joe's psychological and philosophical ideas. We discuss consciousness and identity's role in forming society, where society may be heading, and what we can do to steer this society in the right direction.

In this podcast, I catch up with my friend Joe Jackowski. We reminisce about old times before discussing psychology topics. We share two podcasts that have influenced our thinking: Sarah Hallberg on Peter Attia's podcast and Yeonmi Park on Jordan Peterson's podcast.

My guest today is Nick Buegel, who is returning to the podcast. In this episode, Nick and I go deep into what he's been exploring during the pandemic. As we all know, the pandemic has put unique stress on almost all of Nick and us. But what Nick decided to do was, in many ways, make the most of the situation.

He spent many days and hours outside nature, walking around different parks. Over time, that sparked his interest to explore what is happening within climate change and the broader environment as a movement and what's going on at a policy level. What's going on at a technology level? How do people think about the environment?

Fritzi Horstman is the founder and executive director of the Compassion Prison Projection organization. It is dedicated to bringing compassion, childhood trauma awareness, and creative inspiration to all prisoners.

She is currently directing “Step Inside the Circle,” a documentary about childhood trauma behind bars. The PSA created from some of the footage from the documentary has already received over 2 million views across all platforms. Fritzi is passionate about equality, civil rights, education, and stories about justice. She has made it her life’s work to ensure these stories are told.

In this episode, I am joined by two of my closest friends Jordan Criss and Joe Jackowski. With both of them here, we dive into making sense of the events over the last few weeks.

Some topics we cover:

Jordan's experience at the Chicago Protest

Learning from the Surgeon Code of Ethics and Normative Errors

Daryl Davis as an example of breaking through racism

Dunbar's Number

Dave Chappelle and much more!

I am joined by my friend, Joe Jackowski, and this conversation took place after about four hours of discussion, unpacking everything that has happened in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

In this conversation, we are joined by Corey McCarthy. I wanted to have a conversation with after watching the film Just Mercy. At the time, I was interested in learning more about the prison system and someone who was a part of the prison system. After setting up to record, COVID-19 swept the world in about a week. This shifted our discussion to talk about the work Corey has done to change his mindset and, in many ways, start over.

Andy Vasily is an educator who wants to push his understanding of teaching and learning to a deeper level.

This conversation is a continuation of our first conversation you can listen to here. The first conversation covered Andy’s experiences related to travel, recovery, and connection. In this conversation, we expand on Andy’s inner exploration, starting with darkness in his life and experiences. Andy shares what works for him to keep the darkness from overwhelming him. We expand on the ideas of self-discovery and reflecting on your journey to help guide others on there own.

Derek Sivers(@sivers) is a creative thinker who is quite hard to pin down when explaining who he is: musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and book publisher. If I could sum up who Derek is, I would say he’s a philosopher and introspective person looking to push his thinking in ways he hasn’t explored yet. He won’t hold any belief or assumption too tightly.

My Thanksgiving was unorthodox this year, with my mom having to work and other family matters that have been weighing on me over the last few months. So, in this short bonus episode, I hit record and let my thoughts come out about holidays and relationships. This episode is raw, emotional, and vulnerable.

Jordan Criss joins us for this conversation, which started with a discussion around The JOKER starring Joaquin Phoenix. We concluded the film is much more of a social commentary than only for entertainment purposes. Jordan gives clear analogies of what he believes the film was trying to accomplish, and for him, it was an unsettling film because of how real it felt. From there, the conversation expanded into questions about our modern world with subjects of friendship, connection, communication, and mental health. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion on what we are working on personally. Jordan's latest goal is to be more positive, facilitated by being as present as possible.

In this week's episode, we are joined by Joe Jackowski, Mike Taccona, and Nick Buegel. Our topic of discussion was work-life balance. How do we manage what we do for a living while continuing to push our boundaries or achieving fulfillment outside of work? In our world, it can be easy to have a job that pulls too much energy from us so that we don't have enough left to pursue other goals.

Eric Herrera is a communications tower climber. In this episode, Eric shares stories from his unique and, at times, dangerous job. Tower climbing is one of the jobs that are easy to overlook in our hyper-connected world. Because of people like Eric and his crew members, we can have uninterrupted service with our devices. Eric highlights his journey of becoming a mentor and how he's grown since starting in the climbing industry.

In this conversation, we are building on a small section Jordan had said during the podcast with Saint Ripley. The clip can be summed as creating with a purpose, or anything that can be consumed should make others think. We expand on this thought by giving examples of content in TV shows and movies that have been done right to capture our attention.

John Tenuto is a Sociology professor at the College of Lake County, IL, with over 25 years of teaching experience. He has given dozens of public presentations and media interviews on the sociology of the "Star Trek" film and television shows. Professor Tenuto has appeared on the Netflix series "The Toys That Made Us" for the Star Wars and Star Trek episodes. In this conversation, we talk about John's interest in pop culture and how it shaped his lens of the world. Next, we dive deeper into John's interest in Star Trek. His research now takes him on the path to understanding and highlighting those who helped make the show what it was. We close with how he views teaching and what he does for his students. Again, his caring and authenticity in the role of a teacher come through.