Oren J. Sofer

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- We also cover: What to do when you're feeling stuck, the difference between authenticity and sincerity, and his approach to work/life balance. Rick Rubin is a nine-time GRAMMY-winning producer and a New York Times number one best selling author of the book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time and the most successful producer in any genre by Rolling Stone. He has collaborated with artists from Tom Petty to Adele, Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys to Slayer, Kanye West to the Strokes, and System of a Down to Jay-Z. In this episode we talk about: Rick’s meditation practice The connection between meditation and creativity Why creativity is a birthright for all of us How good habits help facilitate the making of good art The benefits of accepting the magical and mysterious aspects of creativity His analogy of the vessel and the filter  The difference between authenticity and sincerity   The role of doubt when creating  The role of intuition What to do when you’re feeling stuck in a creative endeavor  His approach to a work/life balance  His take on drugs and their effect on the creative process  And his thoughts on the creative capacity of AI  For tickets to TPH's live event in Boston on September 7: https://thewilbur.com/armory/artist/dan-harris/ Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/rick-rubin

9 Aug 20231h 2min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- The great meditation teacher Sebene Selassie said this about today’s guests: “I think their work is going to revolutionize mindfulness.”  The guests in question are Jake Eagle, a licensed mental health counselor, and Dr. Michael Amster, a physician with a specialty in pain management who is also a certified yoga and meditation teacher. Together, they’re out with a new book called The Power of Awe: Overcome Burnout & Anxiety, Ease Chronic Pain, Find Clarity & Purpose―In Less Than 1 Minute Per Day. In it, they lay out a simple technique for “microdosing mindfulness” that just about anybody can work into their daily lives. Plus: Dan’s wife, Bianca, joins Dan as co-interviewer. In this episode we talk about: How Jake and Michael stumbled upon this method (the story involves pancakes) Why Bianca has had trouble booting up a meditation habit (and why Jake says he’s “a terrible meditator”) Why people who have trouble sitting daily for extended periods might find that these microdoses are easier to work into their day How to do the A.W.E. Method The similarities and differences between A.W.E. and traditional mindfulness meditation Practical tips for trying out A.W.E. in everyday life, given how hard it is to form habits The early scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of the A.W.E. Method And, finally, whether Bianca and Dan were convinced to try the method! For tickets to TPH's live event in Boston on September 7: https://thewilbur.com/armory/artist/dan-harris/ Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/eagle-amster-630

7 Aug 20231h 7min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- The hidden influence that your surroundings can have on your happiness. And how to tweak things in subtle but powerful ways. Today’s guest is Ingrid Fetell Lee, the author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness. She is the former design director at IDEO and the founder of the website The Aesthetics of Joy. She holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University.  This is the second installment in a three part series we’re running called, Mundane Glory about learning not to overlook the little things in your daily life that can be powerful and evidence-based levers for increased happiness.  For tickets to TPH's live event in Boston on September 7: https://thewilbur.com/armory/artist/dan-harris/ In this episode we talk about: The physiological and psychological benefits of joy  How to find joy in tangible objects and sensorial experiences What Ingrid means by “faux joy” How joy can intersect with many emotions including sadness and awe How to change your environment, at work and at home, to infuse it with joy A practice she calls, “Joy spotting”  Her list of, “The 50 Ways to Find More Joy Everyday”  The importance of noticing your killjoys  The risks of being visibly joyful  And how even on your worst day, joy can be accessible  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/ingrid-fetell-lee

2 Aug 20231h 1min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Did you know that just 20 minutes of art a day is as beneficial as exercise and mindfulness? Or that participating in one art experience per month can extend your life by ten years?  Our guests Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen talk about their new book, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. Together they explore the new science of neuroaesthetics, which explains how the arts can measurably change the body, brain, and our behaviors.  This is the first installment in a three part series we’re running called, Mundane Glory about learning not to overlook the little things in your daily life that can be powerful and evidence-based levers for increased happiness.  In this episode we talk about: Their definition of the arts and aesthetic experiences How they see nature as, “the highest form of art” How simple actions like humming in the shower & gardening can be categorized as art experiences How you don’t have to be good at making art to benefit from it The difference between “makers” and “beholders” of art What they mean by art being a part of our evolutionary DNA How engaging in the arts can help strengthen our relationships and connectivity How arts and aesthetic experiences create neuroplasticity in the brain How society’s emphasis on optimizing for productivity has pushed the arts aside The four key attributes that make up a concept called an “aesthetic mindset” The benefits of partaking in a wide array of art experiences The importance of infusing play and non judgment into the art you make How art can be a form of meditation and mindfulness How artistic experiences can extend your life, help treat disease and relieve stress How the arts affect the way we learn The emerging field of neuroarts and neuroaesthetics How food fits into the arts category Simple ways to integrate the arts into our daily lives Technology’s relationship to the arts And the importance of architecture and your physical space as a form of art For tickets to TPH's live event in Boston on September 7: https://thewilbur.com/armory/artist/dan-harris/ Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/ivy-ross-susan-magsamen

31 Juli 20231h 4min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Our guests today trained an AI on the world’s most beloved texts, from the Bible to the Koran to the words of Marcus Aurelius, Maya Angelou, and Leonard Cohen. Then, they asked the AI life’s hardest questions. The AI’s answers ranged from strange to surprising to transcendent. Jasmine Wang, a technologist, and Iain S. Thomas, a poet, join us to talk about not only the answers they received from the robot, but also why they are deeply concerned about where AI might be headed. In this episode we talk about: The origins of the book The definitions of some basic AI terminology The biggest takeaways of their conversation with AI—some of the answers they got back were fascinating and beautiful The perils and promise of AI (we spend a lot of time here) The ways in which AI may force us to rethink fundamental aspects of our own nature   And what we all can do to increase the odds that our AI future is more positive than not For tickets to TPH's live event in Boston on September 7: https://thewilbur.com/armory/artist/dan-harris/ Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jasmine-wang-and-iain-s-thomas

26 Juli 202359min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Jennifer Egan is not only a novelist, she's also written short stories and award-winning magazine journalism. She's one of those writers who can both spin a fascinating yarn and load it up with insights into everything from human nature to the future of technology, all while pulling off bewitching turns of phrase; what the writer Jonathan Franzen has called “micro felicities.”  Egan is as funny, fascinating, and open IRL as she is on the page although it’s not clear she feels that way given she talks about how much smarter she feels in writing than in speaking! In this episode we talk about: Egan’s writing process  The power of writing by hand  The shocking, relentless, ruthless discipline that she imposes on herself to never do the same thing twice as she’s writing Curiosity, awe, and panic attacks How she handles feedback Her feelings of insubstantiality  Our cultures fetishization of authenticity The impact of success on her work AI and our possible technological futures Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jennifer-egan

24 Juli 20231h 16min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Today’s episode is a wide-ranging Interview with Zach Braff, one of those rare famous people who’s really willing to go there.  You may know Braff from the TV show Scrubs or the movie Garden State but Braff is actually a genuine multi-hyphenate; a true triple threat. He acts, writes and directs his own movies and other people’s TV shows including Ted Lasso on Apple TV. Relatively recently he put out a new movie that he both wrote and directed called A Good Person starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.   In this episode we talked about anxiety, depression, insomnia, addiction, grief, social media usage, and what he means by “learning to love your fate”—a notion that is literally tattooed on his wrist.  This Interview was conducted in person at the TED conference in Vancouver this past April.  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/zach-braff

21 Juli 202346min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- In today’s episode, Dr. Donn Posner proposes a whole new way of thinking about sleep. First, he normalizes the sleep problems many of us experience. If you’re sleeping poorly right now, he says, don’t freak out; it’s natural and normal. Second, he has a bunch of tips for how to deal with insomnia, some of which you may have never heard before.  Dr. Donn Posner is one of the leaders in the field of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia. Dr. Posner is the Founder and President of Sleepwell Consultants, and Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.  In this episode we talk about: The difference between chronic and acute insomnia How we can adapt to things that can mess up our sleep, like remote work Sub-chronic sleep conditions  What to do if we're experiencing acute insomnia so that it doesn't become chronic insomnia  The importance of structure when it comes to good sleep What social jet lag is  Dr. Posner’s take on napping Why wake time is so important when it comes to good sleep  Why we shouldn’t try to compensate for a bad night's sleep Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/donn-posner-268-rerun

19 Juli 20231h 18min