The Sport of Life: Chats w/ Comedians, Filmmakers, Sports Figures, Musicians, & Intellectuals

Award-winning investigative journalist and bestselling author Jeff Guinn chats with Trey Elling about WACO: DAVID KORESH, THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS, AND A LEGACY OF RAGE. In the first- or a two-part conversation, Jeff and Trey discuss the evolution of the Branch Davidians and David Koresh's rise within the religious organization. Topics include: The book's genesis (1:26) 20 ATF agents going on-record about Waco for the first time (2:51) How the group originally settled in Waco, TX in the early 1930s (5:44) Legally becoming the “Branch Davidians” (8:24) Koresh’s early days with the Branch Davidians (12:00) Koresh’s first taste of a gun fight (18:41) How the Branch Davidians got into illegal firearms in the early 1990s (21:00) Koresh’s sexual proclamations and the cost of losing Marc Breault as a follower (25:44) Why some defend Koresh’s pedophilia (29:12)

Yale School of Medicine physician and researcher F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE, chats with Trey Elling about HOW MEDICINE WORKS AND WHEN IT DOESN’T: LEARNING WHO TO TRUST TO GET AND STAY HEALTHY. Topics include: Goal with the book (0:00) Pharma’s role with patient mistrust (1:57) Pharma’s influence on doctors (6:49) Generic drugs not such an easy fix (10:22) How medical errors commonly lead to death (12:34) Surrogate outcomes (15:50) Getting patients to change their minds for GOOD reasons (17:44) Combatting motivated reasoning (20:44) The “biggest secret in medicine” (26:22) Factoring in side effects when considering a drug (29:32) Doctors’ responsibility to help patients with despair (31:28) Randomized controlled trials, aka RCTs (37:48) How RCTs go wrong (44:19) The difficulty with replication (47:29) Why “open data” isn’t already the standard with RCTs (50:35) The problem with the “middle man” in patient care (53:39) An alternative to the current US healthcare system (57:06) How patients can move closer to doctors by embracing uncertainty (1:00:15)

Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin chats with Trey Elling about PUNK PARADOX: A MEMOIR. Topics include: Goal with the book (0:00) His first taste of live music (2:40) Trauma in rural Kansas in 1976 (4:18) The initial appeal of punk (7:57) A love for The Jackson 5 (10:25) The ugly reality of punk in 1984 (12:11) How lizards are like lead singers (13:41) A change in Bad Religion’s crowd in the late ‘80s (16:22) Bad Religion’s Christmas Songs album (17:21) The concept of “selling out” (18:35) Putting his academic career on hold for the band (21:31) Recovering from a string of traumas in the mid-1990s (23:04) Fostering his children’s love for music (25:35) Brett Gurewitz’s break from the band in the late 1990s (27:29) The one Bible verse he quoted in PUNK PARADOX (29:28) An interesting factoid about ants (33:11) The Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA championship in 2021 (34:28) Rooting for an outspoken Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (36:30) Whether Greg is still ‘punk’ (40:26)

New York Times bestselling author James Rickards chats with Trey Elling about SOLD OUT: HOW BROKEN SUPPLY CHAINS, SURGING INFLATION, AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY WILL SINK THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. Topics include: Book's goal (0:00) The magnitude of the supply chain (2:50) The new science of supply chain management (7:19) The start of an ongoing trade war between the US and China (11:39) How Covid 19 contributed to supply chain problems (15:34) Vaccine mandates and the supply chain (20:07) Cargo ships and the supply chain (25:56) A major truck driver shortage (29:24) Energy and supply chain management (32:00) China as the biggest loser in a global supply chain failure (34:35) Apple moving some semiconductor production out of Taiwan (44:08)

Standup comedian Gianmarco Soresi chats with Trey Elling, ahead of his shows at Cap City Comedy Club on January 6th & 7th. Get tickets HERE. Topics include: Performing in Austin (0:00) Suffering through the Whole 30 diet (1:47) Cutting his teeth in NYC at LOL Comedy Club in making it to the Comedy Cellar (3:45) Feedback (5:45) Taking a comedy class at Caroline's Comedy Club (7:49) How to pull off dark humor on stage (11:26) Receiving validation from other comedians (16:06) Working out a gun violence joke (18:26)

Heather Radke, a writer and contributing editor/reporter at Radiolab, chats with Trey Elling about BUTTS: A BACKSTORY. Topics include: Heather's goal with Butts (0:00) The gluteal cleft (2:13) Why humans evolved to have butts (3:31) How the butt is a Swiss Army Knife (5:26) Male peacocks and the female human butt (7:07) The modern objectification of the female butt beginning with Sarah Baartman 200+ years ago (10:56) Scientists' creating racial hierarchy with butts (and more) in the 1800s (14:44) The bustle in the late 1800s (17:16) The flapper of the 1920s (20:20) Josephine Baker's butt nearly ending European civilization (23:50) Attempting to define "normal" in the mid-1900s (26:08) The model responsible for how many clothing companies determine the fit for women's pants (29:23) Buns of Steel (32:29) The start of 'fat fitness' in the 1980s (35:53) Sir Mix-A-Lot and Baby Got Back (38:13) Why women's butts have been more openly discussed since around 2000 (42:59) Beyonce and "Bootylicious" (46:30) 2014 as the 'Year of the Butt' (49:20) The next big thing in butts (51:22)

Dr. Rick Johnson chats with Trey Elling about NATURE WANTS US TO BE FAT: THE SURPRISING SCIENCE BEHIND WHY WE GAIN WEIGHT AN HOW WE CAN PREVENT--AND REVERSE--IT. Listen to part one of their conversation HERE. Topics in part two include: Why sugar/fructose can fuel problems like ADHD (0:00) Drinking vs eating fructose (10:42) Fructose in vegetables and fruits (17:51) Dairy and the 'survival switch' (22:11) Exercise and the 'survival switch' (24:24) Obesity rates increasing while sugar consumption have decreased since 2000 (27:53) Rick finishing the book, and this chat, with 'An Ode to Sugar' (31:33)

Physician, researcher, and author Dr. Rick Johnson chats with Trey Elling about NATURE WANTS US TO BE FAT: THE SURPRISING SCIENCE BEHIND WHY WE GAIN WEIGHT AND HOW WE CAN PREVENT--AND REVERSE--IT. Topics include: The book's goal (0:00) When & why excess weight is beneficial to animals (2:32) Why humans evolved to be so sensitive to fructose (8:40) Uric acid's connection to fructose and weight gain (17:36) Negative health effects of fructose consumption beyond excess fat (26:17) The line where salt goes from good to bad (35:05)

Washington Post food expert Mary Beth Albright chats with Trey Elling about EAT & FLOURISH: HOW FOOD SUPPORTS EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. Topics include: The book's inspiration (0:28) "How" we eat impacting mental health (2:09) The health benefits of eating together (4:32) How the nervous system connects food and emotions (7:47) Sound as the secret sensory ingredient to food (9:49) Celebrating accomplishments with food (15:25) The science of "hangry" (16:07) The benefits of switching from an ultra-processed to Mediterranean diet (18:30) How ultra-processed foods change our brains (21:33) Blood sugar spikes and accelerated food cravings (23:46) Comfort food (25:29) The sense of smell and mood (27:16) The gut microbiome and mood (29:27) "Diet" (34:21) Prebiotics (37:49) Chronic inflammation and emotional well-being (40:11) The microbiome's effect on excess weight (43:34) High-carb versus high-protein breakfasts and decision-making (44:21) The book's recipes (48:06)

Multi-platinum record producer-turned-neuroscientist Susan Rodgers chats with Trey Elling about THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE: WHAT THE MUSIC YOU LOVE SAYS ABOUT YOU. Susan is best known for her work with Prince during his peak creative years (1983-87).  Susan’s unique path from award-winning sounder engineer and record producer to neuroscientist (1:43) How Miles Davis changed her perspective on listening to music (3:40) The beauty of record pulls (7:36) The messy “brilliance” of The Shaggs (11:37) What we visualize when we listen to music (15:52) Why a preference for ‘real’ versus ‘abstract’ isn’t consistent across artistic mediums (19:34) The connection between novelty and an appetite for risk (22:21) A McGill study on the link between musical novelty and mental rewards (28:41) Why the melody is a record’s heart (29:55) Songs whose lyrics and instrumentation tell different stories (33:36) Ambiguity as a valuable lyrical tool (34:52) How the Barenaked Ladies fooled Susan’s brother with fictitious lyrics (37:06) Rhythm as Susan’s favorite musical dimension (38:29) Evidence that some animals can experience musical rhythm (41:25) Explaining timbre (45:48) How Susan received a lesson on the power of timbre from Prince with “When Doves Cry” (48:43) The importance of synthetic listening to music producers (53:18) What happens in the brain when we feel ‘love at first listen’ with a song (58:26)