Finding Genius Podcast

"If you imagine the mind as a piece of unshaped clay, and if I'm the first person to get in there on a particular topic and mold the clay, I am so far ahead of anyone who comes after me, because they have to try to unmold it," says Ken McCarthy. This statement pulls together and illustrates how public perception is manipulated, and why it's so difficult to undo once it's been done. In this episode, you'll learn: How universal literacy, access to printed materials, and the ability of people to generate their own printed materials had a significant impact on the power dynamic between the general public and those in power Why, upon closer examination of the fine print on the CDC and NIH websites, the COVID-19 vaccine is not a vaccine, but experimental gene therapy What role the Creel Committee played in persuading the American mind on a number of historical events, and how the same techniques are still used today How the use of psychological warfare influenced American women to view smoking cigarettes as fashionable, rather than as a dirty, "unfeminine" habit Ken McCarthy is a pioneer in the world of internet marketing and was one of the foremost visionaries on how the internet would unfold. Time Magazine credited him as the person who first understood how click-through rates would be a key metric in the commercialization of the internet, and in 1994, McCarthy commissioned the first published article on video on the internet. During his time in the business world, McCarthy studied the persuasion and influence of the media on the public mind. How do you get people to show up in large numbers and pay money, go places, or even change their career? How do you change people's perception through the media? How are psychological impressions and ideas formed? Having studied social psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University, McCarthy is well-equipped to not only answer these questions, but utilize strategy in order to implement in the real world what he learned in the classroom. To understand the COVID-19 situation, you first have to understand the context within which it has developed. McCarthy explains this context through a conversation that touches on so many subjects, including the JFK assassination, the CIA's Operation Paperclip, the likely connection between Rockefeller, prohibition, and gasoline, the motivation behind WWI, the historical use of parades in swaying public perception, what exactly emergency use authorization is, how local politicians become corrupted, how a curated link between public health and defense kept the CDC alive, the role of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in influencing press and public health officers, the crime of death certificate falsification during the Nuremberg trials and how this relates to COVID-19, the adulteration of foods in the US, Kristallnacht and Edward Bernays's book, Crystallizing Public Opinion, the history of war, how the small rural island of England rose to power, and so much more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

"The reason we can get away with these outrageous lies we tell is that the average person can't imagine lying on that scale because it's just completely out of their experience…they just can't imagine making up something completely outrageous," says Ken McCarthy, explaining the big lie theory in the context of history and the present day. Press play to learn: How the institutional dynamic of "us" versus "them" exploits a fundamentally human tendency, and how this plays out in politics, sports teams, and even restaurants Where the beauty of TRUE science is found, and what happens when scientific knowledge becomes institutionalized and relies on misinterpretations of data Who funds a large percentage of health and medical reporting in the US and other countries around the world Ken McCarthy is a pioneer in the world of internet marketing and was one of the foremost visionaries on how the internet would unfold. Time Magazine credited him as the person who first understood how click-through rates would be a key metric in the commercialization of the internet, and in 1994, McCarthy commissioned the first published article on video on the internet. "My success flows from my understanding of history," says McCarthy. "The more history you know, the easier it is to see the dynamics and logistics behind how things actually happen." During his time in the business world, McCarthy studied the persuasion and influence of the media on the public mind. How do you get people to show up in large numbers and pay money, go places, or even change their career? How do you change people's perception through the media? How are psychological impressions and ideas formed? Having studied social psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University, McCarthy is well-equipped to not only answer these questions, but utilize strategy in order to implement in the real world what he learned in the classroom. "When I see somebody else engaged in a persuasion campaign, I can see all the wires and how it's put together," he says. This has proven especially relevant to the current COVID-19 situation, and McCarthy provides a thorough, in-depth, and illuminating explanation of how. This involves a wide-ranging but ultimately interconnected list of topics, including medical fundraising, political corruption, Big Pharma, the connection between Dr. Anthony Fauci and George H.W. Bush, AIDS research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) bioweapons countermeasures research, the standard of care "cookbook," the Louisiana floods, sponsorship for mainstream news media, primary sources of funding for health and medical reporting, Operation Warp Speed (and who is running it), Koch's postulates and the CDC's definition of SARS-CoV-2, and so much more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Fascinating and frustrating: two words that Dr. Haller uses to describe researching how type 1 diabetes evolves within the human endocrine system. Type 1 diabetes stands at the top of pediatric endocrinology diseases, and Dr. Haller tells listeners about exciting developments in delaying, modifying, and preventing type 1 progression. Listen and learn What evidence in endocrinology and diabetes research shows type 1 as essentially a heterogeneous disease, What trends and differences appear in adult versus juvenile onset of type 1 diabetes, and Which endocrinology diabetes therapies are in the works, including the first ever FDA-labeled drug capable of "changing the natural history of type 1 diabetes." Michael J. Haller, MD, is a professor and Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Florida. He specializes in type 1 diabetes mellitus research and clinical work. What causes type 1? Well, that's part of the challenge. Triggers range from genetic to environmental to some mix of both, and Dr. Haller's research grapples with these complex pathways to disease onset. Because it has so many potential combinations of causes, using general approaches and treatments for everyone who is at risk for or has type 1 just doesn't cut it. Various treatments through immunotherapy is his current passion, and he tells listeners of its tremendous potential. For example, he and his colleagues have been looking at drugs that are already out in the market used to treat other diseases like lupus, seeing if they can be applied to affecting the metamorphosis of type 1. Immunotherapy offers a wide spectrum, from suppression to more immune-modulatory effects. In fact, his lab has developed the first drug to delay and prevent type 1 in high risk patients—and it's on course to be the first therapy to get an FDA label for changing the progression of type 1 diabetes. Meanwhile, research continues into how causes come into play, and he describes various approaches, from examining pancreases through a type 1 organ donation program to imaging pancreases in living patients. There's a lot to parse in this research and the work has only just begun, but so far the size of the pancreas seems to be a significant factor: they are still working on determining if that's an outcome or cause, but pancreases that come from type 1 patients tend to be about 50% smaller than average. They're also looking at the exocrine region to see if it has a role. Listen in for exciting ways researchers are making progress in treating this complex disease. For more about these projects, see diabetes.ufl.edu. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

It's a universal truth: one of the first words a baby speaks is "Mine!" Ownership governs everything in our lives. Hundreds of times each day, we encounter rules that determine who gets what, and when they get it. Tune in for a deep dive into this compelling topic that flies under most people's radar. You'll discover: How ownership of every single thing on the planet is claimed in one of six ways, whether by a kid on a playground, or a government controlling a global population Why the assertion that owning nothing would reduce consumption isn't necessarily true When does "possession is nine-tenths of the law" turn into "possession is one-tenth of the law," and how this notion is impacting society now more than ever How and why the gap between what you feel you own and what you actually own is getting larger Two guests join the show today: James Salzman, the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at UCLA School of Law and at the Bren School of the Environment at UC Santa Barbara and author of Drinking Water: A History; and Michael Heller, Lawrence A. Wien Professor of Real Estate Law at Columbia Law School and author of The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives. They've joined forces to write a book on ownership, which upon close examination, is something that reaches far beyond holding something tangible that you paid for. Ownership is a form of social engineering, an evolving technology just like any other technology. What does this mean in a world where the ownership of tangible things is becoming increasingly uncommon, and online platforms dominate? What does the future of ownership look like, and how will it affect our lives as free individuals? These are just a few of the questions at the crux of the book co-authored by Salzman and Heller, titled Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives, which is slated to be released on March 2nd of this year. "The place where freedom is born and dies is around ownership, around our access to resources. When governments want to destroy freedom, what they often do first is limit people's ability to own things…there is really nothing more fundamental to freedom than what you can make yours," says Heller. So, what can you make yours, and by what rules could you do that? Heller and Salzman discuss the six claims to ownership used by everyone, everywhere. They also discuss what it means to decide ownership, and how doing so unavoidably decides our fundamental values. They give eye-opening examples of how the rules of ownership play out in all facets of everyday life, from what we watch on TV to which lane we drive in. The overarching message that Heller and Salzman aim to get across in their book is this: deciding ownership isn't a force of nature, but a choice, and there can and SHOULD be a debate about it. To learn more, visit https://www.minethebook.com/. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

"I felt I had to stand up and be heard at least by the local council; it was never my intention that the video clip would go viral internationally….I gave my opinion, which seems to have struck a chord for many people internationally," says Dr. Roger Hodkinson. He's not an anti-vaxxer, he's not a so-called conspiracy theorist: he's a well-recognized and accomplished physician who isn't willing to compromise his ethics and integrity by corroborating the mainstream media message simply because he's being intimidated and threatened into doing so. Press play to hear him expound on the opinion that drew international attention, and to discover: Why the innovative mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 may work, but also might backfire and create dangerous complications that emerge within the coming months or years What the Danish mask study showed about the effectiveness of masks in preventing transmission of COVID-19 How and to what extent the consequences of the response to COVID-19 have harmed more people than the virus itself Dr. Roger Hodkinson completed a pathology residency in the 1970s at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and has since practiced as a general pathologist with a special interest in molecular diagnostics and hematopathology. Among other accomplishments, he is a serial entrepreneur who has established a number of startup medical businesses, he has dealt in several international medical diagnostic markets, and previously served as a member of the committee on laboratory accreditation and as chairman of a test committee in general pathology at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, which sets the annual pathology board examination for Royal College. According to Dr. Hodkinson, the COVID-19 situation we're in today is being amplified by two primary drivers: (1) the testing of the asymptomatic population with an enormous number of false positives, which feeds public paranoia; and (2) the lack of any counter-narrative because of systematic intimidation at all levels. "Physicians are being intimidated with the threat of losing their license to practice, like myself. There is intimidation at a political level…there is a concerted attempt at all levels to suppress any counter-narrative to the idiocy that is currently going on," says Dr. Hodkinson. He continues by going back to the beginning and exploring how all this began. Fast-forward to the current day, he discusses details about the vaccine, which was rushed to the market with completely new technology, and is being given first to some of the most vulnerable members of the population. With grave consequences, it's "politics playing medicine," says Dr. Hodkinson. He discusses censorship by big tech companies, shares his opinion on what could happen in the near and long-term future, and shares practical, safe, and simple practices for proactively protecting our health. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

"One of my mottos is 'no brain left behind', and I love the most complex cases," says Kristen Willeumier. Surprisingly, some of those complex cases can be solved through natural, simple means. Tune in to learn: Whether depression and other psychiatric conditions actually produces changes in the brain that can be detected via electrical and functional scans Which supplement is critical to brain health, and why it's particularly important for people with neuropsychiatric disorders Why using benzodiazepines like Ambien and Xanax for better sleep can actually produce the opposite effect How drinking more water can help you lose weight Neuroscientist and author of Biohack Your Brain: How to Boost Cognitive Health, Performance & Power, Kristen Willeumier, spent nearly a decade in academic science before taking a job at Amen Clinics, an outpatient psychiatric clinic focused on treating complex psychiatric disorders using neuroimaging. She was hired to fulfill two roles: director of research for the clinical imaging department, where she focused on the transformational impact of neuroimaging on psychiatric practice, and director of nutrition and nutraceuticals, where her goal was to determine how nutritional supplements can change brain function. During her time at Amen Clinics, she also assumed a brain health educator role, helping patients understand brain health and how to keep it in tip-top shape. Willeumier works with a range of conditions, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, brain fog, tremors, obesity, and glioblastoma. She takes an individualized approach to each case, which begins with baseline labs, an analysis of the person's diet, a determination of how nutraceuticals can help address the specific issues at hand, and possibly neurocognitive testing, neuropsychiatric assessments, and/or neuroimaging to get an idea of how the brain is functioning, and whether certain parts of the brain are working too hard or not enough. In addition to dietary and lifestyle changes, a number of tools are at Willeumier's disposal, including neurofeedback therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), hyperbaric oxygen therapy, IV therapy, and genetic testing. Along with sharing her personal practices for maintaining a sharp mind and low stress levels, Willeumier gives brain health tips, lists some of the best foods for a healthy brain and good hydration, explains how to go about choosing between diets like ketogenic and vegan, and recommends one diet in particular for slowing cognitive decline. Find her book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and HarperCollins, and learn more about her work or reach out for a consult by visiting https://www.drwilleumier.com/. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Digital stethoscopes, otoscopes, home hemodialysis programs, video conferencing, electronic consults…you name it: digital healthcare technologies are being delivered to patients who would otherwise face significant challenges accessing the care they need for managing chronic conditions. Press play to discover: How biometric data can be transmitted from inside a patient's home, to a physician located hundreds of miles away To what degree telehealth services have reduced wait times for VA patients What telehealth is like, from a patient's perspective (what's good, what can be improved, what it means to receive the majority of care electronically) Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh, Department of Medicine and Clinical Director of Telehealth Services at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Dr. Archana Bandi, is an endocrinologist who cares for patients with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, chronic obesity, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, and thyroid disease—conditions she says lend themselves very well to telehealth. She discusses the importance of telehealth, emerging healthcare technology trends, and her experience with patients—one of whom (David) joins her on today's show. "…Telehealth and video conferencing works for folks like myself who are distant from the medical centers for the VA…it affords us the opportunity to be one on one with our physician, as if we were sitting in the office right there with them," says David. Electronic consultations (e-consults) took off in 2011 for Veteran Health Affairs, and is now an integral part of the care they provide. Beyond e-consults, they provide video clinics to patient homes, and video teleconferencing to patients in remote areas. These patients can go to their primary care office to be triaged by local nurses before being electronically connected to physicians located states away. Technology in healthcare is closing the gap for veterans who need to access the right type of care at the right time, regardless of where they live. Tune in for the details of all this and more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

How many stars in the sky? Gaia astronomer Timo Prusti is more qualified than most to posit an answer. He helps manage the project undertaken by the ESA mission space lab called Gaia—to measure the position of almost 2 million stars—and talks about the far-reaching implications and space exploration benefits. Listen and learn How the mechanics of the Gaia project work, from using solar system parallaxes for measurements to their time frame, How data such as brightness work in their calculations, and What this information reveals about our universe, stars, and galaxies, including the origin of the Milky Way galaxy. Timo Prusti is a project scientist with the European Space Agency (ESA) on the Gaia team and takes listeners on a ride through the stars in the universe. The Gaia satellite is positioned about 1.5 million kilometers away from the earth, collecting data to help Prusti and his colleagues measure star positions. The distance is tricky to calculate, but they use parallaxes: think of putting your finger in front of your eye and closing and opening the other eye such that your finger seems to jump. Gaia measures the star location from one side of the sun and then half a year later from the other side of the sun; this "jump" measurement is plugged in to their equation. These data points are collected 24 hours a day and sent to their labs on earth. What's been useful about this information? Well, Prusti explains how other scientists can use this for fundamental research in numerous fields. For example, scientists were able to determine the atmosphere of Triton, a moon of Neptune, based on the shadow that hit the earth when it passed between the earth and a star they had measured. Gaia has completed what's called the "nominal mission," but is continuing with further work and measurements. They're hoping to keep it going until early 2025 and use the motions of stars to open up a totally new area of investigation—to understand our own Milky Way galaxy: its structure, how it was born, and what is its future. For more, see cosmos.esa.int. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Dr. Daniel Geschwind Bio: Dr. Geschwind is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry at UCLA. In his capacity as Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor of Precision Health, he leads the Institute for Precision Health (IPH) at UCLA, where he oversees campus precision health initiatives. In his laboratory, his group has pioneered the application of systems biology methods in neurologic and psychiatric disease, with a focus on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurodegenerative conditions. Dr. Geschwind is a pioneer in the transcriptomic and functional genomic analyses of the nervous system. His laboratory showed that gene co-expression has a reproducible network structure that can be used to understand neurobiological mechanisms in health and disease. He led the first studies to define the molecular pathology of autism and several other major psychiatric disorders, and has made major contributions to defining the genetic basis of autism. He demonstrated the utility of using gene network approaches to discover new pathways involved in neurodegeneration and new approaches to facilitate neural regeneration. More recently, his laboratory demonstrated how knowledge of 3-dimensional chromatin structure can be used to understand the functional impact of human genetic variation. Dr. Geschwind has trained over 70 graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows, and is among the highest cited scientists in neurology, neuroscience and genetics (H index > 140). In addition to serving on several scientific advisory boards, including the Faculty of 1000 Medicine, the Scientific Advisory Board for the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the NIMH Advisory Council and the NIH Council of Councils, he currently serves on the editorial boards of the journals Cell, Neuron and Science. He has received several awards for his laboratory's work is an elected Member of the American Association of Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine. What can big data and genomics offer the individual regarding medical treatment? Dr. Daniel Geschwind is here to explain exome sequencing data analysis as well as how this field might expand and progress. Listen and learn What makes up our genome, how to understand the terms for each part, like exon, intron, and exome, and what parts are effected epigenetically; Why genomics testing still focuses on that 2 to 3 percent of the genome called the exome that codes for proteins; and How sequencing will broaden and change, making preventative care that much more effective for certain patients and more. Dr. Daniel Geschwind is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor in Neurology, Psychiatry, and Human Genetics; the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Precision Health at UCLA; and the director of the Center for Autism Research and Treatment at the Semel Institute at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He opens up the world of genomics for listeners, explaining why an exome sequencing test is the center of precision medicine currently. He explains how the exome is composed of the 3% of your genome that actually codes for protein sequences. What's the rest of the genome up to? Well, scientists believe that remainder of your genome is busy regulating those sequences, determining levels and turning gene expressions on and off. He explains how scientists use the exome sequencing process. In fact, the majority of people who say they've been sequenced mean, in fact, that their exome has been sequenced. Whole genome sequencing costs about three times as much but offers scientists the same information at this point. However, he thinks this will soon change. As the exome sequencing project continues and our knowledge accumulates, the benefits will increase from whole genome sequencing. The costs are likely to drop as well. Once it gets inexpensive enough and we have sequenced hundreds of millions of patients with a variety of disorders, we will have much better predictive power. For more information, he suggests UCLA's Precision Health website. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Do you think that intense, beneficial states of flow are only for extreme athletes? Not true, says Steven Kotler. In fact, we all have the tools for this process that leads to human performance optimization. He discusses his new book about human performance impact factors, offering key steps in this conversation. Listen and learn How an experience while recovering from Lyme disease led him to the phenomenon of flow and corresponding research, Why certain acts trigger states of flow and what is the most common "interpersonal flow" in business environments, and How to engage in specific flow-state triggers and how to access resources for more formal human performance improvement training. Noted author and speaker Steven Kotler has written thirteen books, nine of which are best sellers. Two of his books have been nominated for the Pulitzer prize. He's the executive director of the Flow Research Collective and, along with his wife, is cofounder of a hospice and special-needs center for dogs. He's written a new book called The Art of Impossible, and shares its inspiration and seminal ideas with listeners. He's quite a storyteller and the journey that led to his human performance improvement research is quite a story. It all started with a friend forcing him to surf after suffering months from Lyme disease. Despite extreme hardship and debilitation, he went with her that day and it changed his life: he experienced the phenomena of a "flow state." He tells listeners, how, why, and what happened next. He also emphasizes that flow states are achievable and have concreate access points. It's all about getting our biology to work for us, he says. In fact, flow states have 22 triggers, and he describes some of these human performance improvement steps. But the major idea to understand, he emphasizes, is that "flow follows focus." The ability to carve out that atmosphere and time to focus is central to human performance and limitation. He discusses methods to schedule your day to achieve this focus and describes mindsets that might hinder flow states, such as an expert mindset that might disallow open thinking. Finally, he adds that he's trained people and groups on these techniques. His new book focuses on "turbo-boosting the equation." For more about these trainings, see flowresearchcollective.com. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK