David-Michel Davies - Webby Awards: Episode 53 (www.smartpeoplepodcast.com)

Dr. Richard Davidson – Harvard educated professor, expert in emotions, author and long time friend of the Dalai Lama. Do you know how long “meditate daily” has been on my to-do list? Probably twice as long as “go to the dentist” has been on yours. For me, the act of meditation represents everything that is calming, and the fact that I never meditate represents everything that is hectic. In a world where you have so many worries including your family, bills, career, and more, when do you have time to sit in a room and think about….well….nothing? The truth is, our brain wasn’t meant to be so over stimulated every second of the day. With the pace of life increasing at an almost unimaginable rate, it becomes more imperative to sit down, relax, get out of the way, and let your brain just be. Especially given all of the research that shows, the better we treat our brain – the better it will treat us. The cool thing is, meditation is just one tool in our tool belt that we can use to change the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we experience the world. Given the plasticity of the brain, there are many ways to improve the quality of our life through optimizing our brain. Want to learn more about it? That’s what I thought. This week we interview Dr. Richard Davidson, a true expert in the field of neuroscience. Dr. Davidson is the Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, and Founder and Chair of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Psychology and is the author of the new book, The Emotional Life of Your Brain. Oh, and Dr. Davidson has the Dalai Lama on speed dial – they’re that tight

Arun Chaudhary – First ever official White House Videographer This podcast is recorded exactly 6 miles from the White House. My day job office building is literally a pitching wedge away from the front steps of the President’s home. And yet, every time I pass those huge white pillars and that rolling green lawn, I can’t help but to stop and stare and wonder. What is going on inside there? Is Barry in? Is a sniper pointing his gun at me right now? Thousands flock to the gates of the White House every year and ask themselves these same questions (except perhaps the sniper part, that might just be me). And it’s no wonder we are all enamored. This building houses arguably the most powerful man in the world, President Barack Obama. A man so cool, that he actually does NOT put his pants on one leg at a time – he jumps into both (listen to find out of this is true). But if you want to catch a glimpse of the POTUS and learn more about who he really is, don’t feel like you have to fly to our Nation’s Capital – just go to YouTube! President Barack Obama has been dubbed the YouTube president. His YouTube channel, BarackObama.com has nearly a quarter of a million subscribers and over 225 million views (slightly more than our YouTube channel which will soon have all of our episodes available – along with video of recent interviews! Check out our trailer here). Many have credited his tech savvy “New Media” team for utilizing things like YouTube, facebook and other social media tools, in helping Obama win the presidency. So it’s only fitting that he is the first President to have his very own dedicated videographer to record his every move. This week’s guest, Arun Chaudhary, served as the first official White House videographer from 2009 to 2011 and was also a key member of Obama’s New Media team during the 2008 campaign. He recently released his book, First Cameraman: Documenting the Obama Presidency in Real Time. He previously worked in film in New York and was a member of the NYU Graduate Film Department faculty. He received his MBA in filmmaking from NYU and his BA in film theory from Cornell University. He has been profiled by The New York Times, the BBC, National Journal, Politico, Fortune, and now….. Smart People Podcast. Enjoy.

Dr. Brian Wansink – Director of the Cornell Food & Brand Lab, marketing guru, author and MUCH more. The Boston Medical Center indicates that approximately 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight-loss products in their pursuit of a trimmer, fitter body. I’d be willing to bet, if you are reading this, you have tried SOME form of diet in your lifetime. I would ALSO be willing to bet, that you didn’t stick with that diet very long. So let me just say in advance…you are welcome! Jon and I are here to tell you to stop worrying about what you eat. Stop fretting every time you make a food decision, you are GOING to screw it up. I can almost hear your brain asking “Is this a trick? Why should we listen to you schmucks?”. And our response, don’t listen to us – listen to this week’s episode! If you were to interview someone about technology, you would want it to be Bill Gates (RIP Steve Jobs). If you were to interview someone about investing, you would want it to be Warren Buffett. If you were to interview someone about how our environment and the food industry influences eating habits, you would want to talk to Dr. Brian Wansink….so that’s exactly what we did. Dr. Wansink earned his Ph.D. in marketing at Stanford and is currently a Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab (which he founded) at Cornell University. The Food & Brand Lab focuses on the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it. The lab itself is a series of test kitchens, restaurants, and cooperating grocery stores that are used to understand how consumers “choose and use” foods. With the help of researchers from psychology, history, food science, cultural anthropology, and agricultural and consumer economics, the mission of the Food & Brand Labs’ studies is to help consumers eat more nutritiously and behave responsibly. His research on consumption volume has won national and international awards for its relevance to consumers. His research has been widely featured on 20/20, BBC News, The Learning Channel, all news networks, and on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times. “ From 2007-2009, Wansink accepted a White House appointment as the fourth Executive Director of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). At CNPP, he oversaw the development of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, the Healthy Eating Index, the Cost of Raising a Child Index, and he is charged with promoting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, in the form of MyPyramid. In 2011, Wansink was elected to a one-year-term as president of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior . A lot of the topics we cover in this episode are covered in greater detail in his fascinating book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Learn more about Dr. Wansink at http://brianwansink.com/ and more about his book at http://mindlesseating.org/index.php .

Creativity is like a fire hose. Once you turn it on it’s hard to control, it spews out haphazardly, and if you don’t have a firm grasp on it, it can whip you in just about any direction. The power that it yields is immense; however, one small malfunction can completely stop the flow and you better have some knowledge and tools to get it up and running again. That’s where this week’s guest, Jill Badonsky, comes in. She knows the most common reasons your fire hose breaks and how to fix it. I have to admit, I don’t really know the extent of Jill’s knowledge about fire hoses, but I will tell you she knows a heck of a lot about creativity. I’ll also admit, that Jill’s approach to dealing with creativity, working through the process, and overcoming obstacles is a bit odd. In her most recent book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence, Jill introduces us to her 10 imaginary friends that each represent a different creative concept designed to help us overcome creative blocks and let go of the fear that holds us back from doing what we want to do. Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is an internationally recognized workshop leader, keynote speaker and creativity coach. She has consulted with national magazines, filmmakers, comedians, artists, writers, women in business, and spiritual groups through-out the country. Her background is in occupational therapy, writing, marketing, educational media and instructional design. Find out more about Jill at http://www.themuseisin.com.

This week we cover some seriously heavy topics. What plays a bigger role in who you are, your experiences or your genetics? Are emotions strictly a biological response to an event, easily defined by the chemical that they are related to? Are we born as moral beings, or is even morality subject to circumstances? What flavor of ice cream is better, vanilla or chocolate? Wait, sorry – that was a separate argument that Jon and I had. Anyway, it takes some serious smarts to even attempt to answer these questions (especially the ice cream debate), good thing this week’s guest is basically a genius. Join us as we chat with Dr. Jesse Prinz. Dr. Prinz is a Distinguished Professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, Graduate Center where he is also the director of the Committee for Interdisciplinary Science Studies. He works primarily in the philosophy of psychology and has authored several books and over 100 articles, addressing such topics as emotion, moral psychology, aesthetics and consciousness. Some of Dr. Prinz’s most notable books include, Beyond Human Nature, Gut Reactions, and The Emotional Construction of Morals.

Do you know what astrophysics is? I’m not going to lie, I had to wikipedia it. This week we speak with the guy who Invented Astrophysics! ….Ok, not really, that guy has been dead for like centuries, BUT we basically get to talk to the next best thing in Dr. Charles Pellerin. Dr. Pellerin is the former director of astrophysics at NASA where he led the team that built the hobbled Hubble Space Telescope and then redeemed himself by leading the mission to fix it - so he’s kind of a big deal in a lot of ways. Actually, let’s discuss how big of a deal he is: Charlie received Goddard Space Flight Center’s highest patent related award for inventing a “Two-axis Fluxgate Magnetometer”. His design then flew on missions to the planets. He earned a PhD in Astrophysics publishing in Solar Physics and the Astrophysical Journal. Catholic University awarded him their Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science. After the Harvard Business School’s “Program for Management Development,” NASA appointed Charlie Director, Astrophysics. He led this program for a decade launching 12 satellites. NASA awarded him an Outstanding Leadership Medal and the American Astronautical Society gave him their highest award, the Space Flight Award. So I’ll say it again….he’s kind of a big deal and we’re pumped to have him on the show. We start off with some really nerdy questions about inhabiting Mars, which we WILL do sometime soon according to Dr. P. Then we dive into the Hubble disaster and how Charlie was able to take that life lesson in a fantastic direction as he outlines in his AMAZING book How NASA Builds Teams. You will learn all about Dr. Pellerin’s new 4-D approach that is being used by some of the largest companies in the world such as Texas Instruments and Raytheon Co, just to name a few. The systems and ideas are all outlined for free at http://www.nasateambuilding.com/ or http://www.4-dsystems.com/ . He has a LOT of free information available on there that can help ANYONE from small business to large corporations and especially to the individual employee. In today’s business environment you really have to be a team player, why not take some advice from one of the smartest guys to ever give it!

Our twenties are supposed to be the time of our lives, right? A time where you can do whatever you want and use the excuse, “I’m just trying to find myself.” You can backpack through Europe for as long as you want and finance it all on your 3 new credit cards! You can date anyone and everyone that will wink at you on match.com or buy you a drink at a bar. And you can jump from job to job every 3 months because loyalty is dead and that’s what young adults do these days. The craziest part of it all is that your parents are not only OK with this, but they encourage it! They explain to you that they wish they traveled more when they were your age and took advantage of all that youth has to offer. But you know what’s funny…they didn’t do any of that. Yes I’m generalizing, but for most of modern history, your twenties were a time to find the best job you can with your skill set, work hard, start your family and begin to take on responsibility. Nearly 80% of life’s most significant events take place by age thirty-five whether you want them to or not – so it’s kind of important that you are making good decisions. The career path you choose, or at least the experience you gain, is going to impact your future earnings in an extremely skewed fashion. The people you meet in your twenties are going to have a more profound effect on who you become than at any point in the future. And, not to scare you too much, but if you are thinking about having a family at some point, these years are the time to start planning. At age 30 a woman is 1/2 as fertile as she was just 5 years prior and by age 35, she is just 1/4 as fertile. So what do you do? With all of these things happening in such a short period of time, it’s extremely easy to become anxious, scared and confused. Well you’re in luck, because Smart People Podcast is here to help you on your way. This week we speak with Dr. Meg Jay. Dr. Jay (www.drmegjay.com) is a clinical psychologist who specializes in adult development, and twenty-somethings in particular. She is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Virginia, and maintains a private practice in Charlottesville, VA. Dr. Jay earned a doctorate in clinical psychology, and in gender studies, from the University of California, Berkeley. In this conversation with Meg we cover everything from dating and relationships to what your career path is and who you want to become and much more. We dive into Meg’s AMAZING brand new book, The Defining Decade: Why your twenties matter – and how to make the most of them now. If you’re still lucky enough to have all or part of your twenties ahead of you, this is simply a MUST read. However, if you’re twenties have come and gone, there is still much to be learned and perhaps you can help pass on these words of wisdom to your own children. Whatever your reasoning is, we can promise you that this is one episode you really can’t afford to miss. Do it for yourself, do it for our youth!

If you’re anything like me (Chris) and nothing like the other host (Jon) you absolutely hate surfing the internet to find the next big thing. I mean, by the time I learned about Myspace, there was a movie being made about Facebook. But let’s face it, the web is where it’s at people. Not understanding the inner workings of the interwebs is the equivalent of being the last caveman to discover fire…you’re dead. And with all of the URL’s, HTML’s, WWW.’s and HTTP’s the majority of us struggle to keep up. That’s why you need to be a lot like me (Chris) and become really good friends with a computer nerd (Jon) to ensure that you are kept up to speed. But just in case you are unable to make friends, we have brought the best of the internet to you in this week’s episode. This week we call upon the only man to have reached the end of the internet, David-Michel Davies (DMD for short – coolest nickname ever BTW). DMD is the Executive Director of the Webby Awards, a leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which includes an Executive 1,000-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities. Just listening to DMD makes you feel like you have your finger on the pulse of the internet. And if you do ONE thing after listening to this week’s episode, go to netted.net, you can thank us later. This week we tackle: The Best of SXSW Where is the internet heading? App culture Netted.net – the email you seriously shouldn’t miss Internet influence on various types of media (when is the last time you bought a CD?)

Craig Koslofsky, author, Associate Professor of History at the University of Illinois . Can you imagine a time without electricity and modern technology? First of all, HOW would you download this podcast? In Craig Koslofsky’s book, Evening’s Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe, Craig discusses “the history of night” and what it meant to people during those times. During this period of history, the night was changed when it came to religion, literature, socialization, and art. Check out this week’s podcast to learn more!

Dr. Srini Pillay – Neuroscientist, Psychiatrist, Executive Coach…amazing. The human brain is a miracle, no one can question that. The brain is the source of all of our cognition. It stores our memories, it creates our identity and it interprets the world in which we live. It’s also a mechanism that can be exercised and fine tuned to help us reach our greatest potential. But how the heck does it work? I mean, thinking about thinking is damn near impossible. That’s why we leave it up to experts such as this week’s guest Dr. Srini Pillay. After graduating as the top medical student in his class, Dr. Pillay trained in Psychology at McLean Hospital (the nations top psychiatric hospital) and Harvard Medical Institute. He graduated as the resident with the most number of awards at any training program at Harvard Medical School and one of the top three award winners in the US. He was also the Founder and Director of the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program at McLean Hospital. He has also authored numerous books including, Your Brain and Business and, Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear. So needless to say, he’s got a little bit of experience on his side. Join us as we blow your mind…er…brain.