The Art of Manliness

Matthew Schrier, author of "The Dawn Prayer," shares his harrowing journey of being captured by Al-Nusra Front in Syria. He discusses the survival tactics he developed during seven months of torture and starvation, emphasizing the power of humor and human connection even in dark times. Schrier also reflects on the precarious nature of trust among captives and guards, and recounts his experience as the first Westerner to escape an Al-Qaeda prison, illustrating the psychological warfare he faced and the clever plans he devised for freedom.

In this engaging discussion, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness, experts on human performance and the psychology of passion, dissect the complexities of passion. They reveal that passion has both light and dark sides, cautioning against the typical advice to "find your passion." The duo emphasizes the need for a mastery mindset to navigate the delicate balance between obsession and genuine interest, while highlighting the importance of patience, internal motivation, and the acceptance of an unbalanced life for true fulfillment.

Join Karla Starr, an insightful author whose work, "Can You Learn to Be Lucky?", explores the relationship between luck and proactive behavior. She argues that luck isn’t just about chance; it’s influenced by our actions. The discussion reveals how perceptions of luck affect motivation and explains the significance of timing and physical attractiveness in opportunities. Starr emphasizes that while luck plays a role, building confidence and resilience is vital to creating one's own favorable outcomes in life.

David Lieberman, Ph.D., a psychologist and author of "Never Get Angry Again," dives deep into the complexities of anger management. He explains how traditional advice fails to address the root causes of anger, such as unmet desires and childhood experiences. Lieberman emphasizes the importance of recognizing triggers and setting boundaries to improve emotional health. With insights on harnessing positivity and maintaining self-reflection, he guides listeners toward transforming anger into motivation and healthier relationships.

Join Father Tom Ryan, a priest and author of "The Sacred Art of Fasting," as he uncovers the spiritual dimensions of fasting beyond just health benefits. He delves into fasting practices across various religions, illustrating how it can enhance physical and spiritual well-being. Discover the communal essence of fasting in Ramadan, the psychological and physical benefits it offers, and how anyone, regardless of faith, can embark on this transformative discipline. Father Ryan provides practical advice for incorporating fasting into daily life, highlighting its potential for personal growth.

Alexander the Great, Hannibal, and Julius Caesar. Three of the greatest generals of antiquity. But what made them great and what can we learn from them about leadership? My guest explores those questions in his book Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership. His name is Barry Strauss and he’s a classicist and military historian at Cornell University. Today on the show we discuss the traits all three of these men possessed that made them such military geniuses, including audacity, ambition, and a little luck. Barry walks us through the five stages of war that each of these legendary commanders navigated and where each thrived and floundered. Barry then makes the case that while Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar each experienced success in the short-term, in the long run all of them failed to achieve their ultimate aims because they became victims of their own success. We end our conversation discussing what these commanders' shortcomings can teach modern leaders in any kind of field, and whether it’s possible to be both a bold visionary leader and a great manager. Get the show notes at aom.is/mastersofcommand.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do you make the biggest decisions you face, the ones that have significant consequences and can change your life? Choices like whether to get married, move, attend a certain college, take a particular job, and so on? If you're like a lot of people, you just kind of wing it, and maybe draw up a basic pros and cons list.My guest today has studied the latest research in decision making theory and formulated a better approach. His name is Steven Johnson, his latest book is Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most, and today he walks us through how to move beyond listing pros and cons to using a more effective 3-step decision making process. We begin our conversation discussing how most people make decisions and how it hasn’t changed much in hundreds of years. Steven then walks us through the phases of a better decision-making methodology, including developing a more creative map of the possibilities before you, accurately predicting the outcomes of those options, and questioning the narratives you have about your choices. Steven then makes the case that reading novels and watching quality television shows can be a great way to train our brains in the skill of decision making. We end our conversation discussing what the raid on Osama bin Laden can teach us about making good decisions. Get the show notes at aom.is/farsighted.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you go on vacation, you probably travel to places that help you feel good, relax, and have fun. My guest today likes to visit places where great human suffering and tragedy has occurred.His name is Thomas Cook. He's a writer of crime fiction, but in his latest book, Even Darkness Sings, he takes readers with him on the real family trips he's taken to see humanity’s darkest places, including Auschwitz, Verdun, and Hiroshima. We begin our conversation discussing how Thomas and his wife got the idea to visit dark places, how all dark places are different yet connected, and how darkness has a unique power to offer insight and even hope and optimism. Tom then takes us on a tour of some of the tragic places he’s visited and the lessons he’s learned from them. We end our conversation discussing the importance of treating dark places with somber reverence and how a personal dark place was created for Tom while he was writing this book. Get the show notes at aom.is/darkness.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you've never been in a fight before, have you ever wondered how you’d respond to getting punched in the face?My guest today found the experience pretty delightful. Which is all the more surprising given that he'd lived more than three decades of his life as a self-described pacifist, who abhorred violence, thought fighting was barbaric, and feared he was a coward. His name is Josh Rosenblatt, and he’s the author of Why We Fight: One Man’s Search For Meaning Inside the Ring, which describes his decision to enter an actual MMA fight at the age of 40.Today on the show, Josh talks about why after a lifetime of being a hedonistic, non-physically oriented, intellectual type of guy who thought mixed martial art fighting was dumb, he decided to climb into the cage as a MMA fighter himself. Josh describes how he first got interested in MMA fighting in his early 30s, started studying Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and boxing, and discovered the joys of getting in touch with his long submerged aggression. We then discuss what it was like to train for an actual MMA fight as an older guy, how fighting has influenced his writing, and what getting into the cage taught him about sacrifice, asceticism, transcendence, and the potential for human transformation.Get the show notes at aom.is/whywefight.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the past few years, sports recovery has become a big business. Elite athletes and weekend warriors alike are spending lots of time and money on things like cryotherapy, float tanks, foam rolling, and supplements in order to feel better, push themselves harder, and gain an edge over the competition. But does any of this stuff actually do anything? My guest today spent a year investigating the science of exercise recovery. Her name is Christie Aschwanden and she’s the author of Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn From the Strange Science of Recovery. We begin our show discussing what exactly athletic “recovery” is and why the recovery business has been booming recently. Christie and I then dig into several different recovery modalities from drinking Gatorade, to taking ice baths, to foam rolling, and the science, or the lack thereof, behind their effectiveness. We end our conversation discussing what actually works best for exercise recovery (hint: you do it every night and it’s free), whether you should spend your money on things like cryospas, and whether recovery methods can still be beneficial, even if they're largely based on the placebo effect. Get the show notes at aom.is/recovery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.