How To Academy Podcast

Today we face not one crisis but a cascade: sputtering growth, surging inflation, poor policy responses, an escalating climate emergency, worsening inequality, increasing nationalism and a decline in global co-operation. But though the situation seems dire, it is not yet broken beyond repair.In this episode, we bring together former UK PM Gordon Brown, business leader and former chair of President Obama's Global Development Council Mohamed El-Erian, and Nobel laureate economist Michael Spence to share their bold new plan to fix our world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are on the cusp of a major revolution in psychiatric medicine and neuroscience. After fifty years of prohibition, criminalisation and fear, science is finally showing us that psychedelics are not dangerous or harmful. Instead, when used according to tested, safe and ethical guidelines, they are our most powerful newest treatment of mental health conditions, from depression, PTSD, and OCD to disordered eating and even addiction and chronic pain. Professor David Nutt, one of the world's leading Neuropsychopharmacologists, has spent 15 years researching this field and joined us at The Conduit to share his findings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We commonly misperceive mental health as being all in the mind, and physical pain in the body; but neuroscientist Camilla Nord’s groundbreaking research presents a new view of mental health – one that reframes mental health as an intricate, self-regulating process which is different for all of us. It's the subject of her new book, The Balanced Brain, and of this conversation with Hannah MacInnes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Acclaimed novelist Michel Faber explores why music matters in his new book Listen. He discusses his transition from literature to music and the emotional impact of songs, reflecting on themes of forgiveness. Faber also explores the effects of tinnitus on listening and debunks myths about vinyl. He emphasizes how music is a subjective experience that happens in the listener's brain, not dependent on delivery platforms.

"Don't worry, be happy", "focus on the important things", "smile more". We've all heard these platitudes, and we've all been annoyed by them. But how can we actually live a life filled with more happiness and less distraction? Psychiatric specialist and bestselling author Dr Anders Hansen believes the first step is understanding the wiring of our brains - and how modern society is built to hijack it. Anders sits down with Luke Naylor-Perrott to discuss how we can stop this hijacking, translating cutting-edge neuroscience into day-to-day tips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Higgs has joined this podcast to talk about William Blake, James Bond, and the Beatles - and now he's back with another iconic British cultural export: the electronic band sometimes called The KLF. He's just released the 10th Anniversary Edition of his book trying to make sense of why they set fire to a million pounds then vanished from public life. His attempt to figure out the answer takes him on a wild ride with counterculture icon Robert Anton Wilson, comic book genius Alan Moore, country superstar Tammy Wynette, and a dead sheep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For most of us, the arts are a great source of pleasure. But could making art actually be good for your brain and body?Susan Magsamen is the founder and director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she studies how the brain and biology change when we participate in the arts. She's the author of Your Brain on Art, a new book making a powerful and persuasive case for the medicinal benefits of art. She wrote the book with Ivy Ross, Vice President of Design for Google's hardware division, and both authors joined David Malone to tell us more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The author of 58 novels, as well as plays, poetry, non-fiction and short stories, Joyce Carol Oates is famed across the literary world for writing at a speed which leaves her contemporaries trailing in the dust. But the fact of her productivity – and the sheer challenge of keeping up with such a prodigious writer – too often masks the more significant truth: that Joyce Carol Oates may be the most original, erudite, and versatile voice in American letters. In this podcast, we dive into the stories of her new collection Zero Sum and hear her take on the strange and troubled times we live in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jesse Coomer, an English professor turned breathwork guru and author of The Language of Breath, shares his transformative journey from stress to serenity. He discusses how breath training and cold exposure can combat anxiety, enhance emotional resilience, and improve athletic performance. Jesse breaks down the incredible benefits of nasal breathing, introduces playful techniques like 'Sniff Sniff Poo,' and emphasizes mindful practices for everyday wellness. Listeners are encouraged to embark on a six-week challenge to deepen their breathwork skills.

What can we learn from historical attempts to live together and raise children differently? Kristen Ghodsee is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Everyday Utopia, a new guide to experimental communities from the Pythagorians to the present. She talked to the journalist, author, and broadcaster Angela Saini about the past, present, and future of family life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices