Josh: The Podcast

Mention Friday the 13th to any Freemason, and you're going to hear about Jacques De Molay and the Knights Templar. But is that really the origin of the myth? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Wikipedia: Knights Templar • Paraskevidekatriaphobia • Vox: Friday the 13th is a meme disguised as superstition • Hesiod's rules • Wikipedia: The Last Supper • The 13th Guest • The Canterbury Tales • A Match at Midnight • Snopes.com: Fact-checking Friday the 13th • Friday, the Thirteenth by Thomas Lawson • NYT: Sen. Robert Owen proposes 13 doomed bills on Friday the 13th • IMDB: 'Friday the 13th' • 13 things for Friday the 13th • JoshShear.com: Origin myth of Friday the 13th as an unlucky day

You already have some super power. What kind of super hero are you? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Mark Henson • Ordinary Superpowers • Mark Henson on JKWD • JoshShear.com: What kind of superhero do you want to be?

While today Labor Day is often celebrated as the unofficial end of summer — the last day for beaches, vacation seasons and outdoor pools, and in some cases the last day of summer break for public school systems — its intended purpose is to celebrate the contribution of the labor force. This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • NYT article on first Labor Day march • Oregon celebrates Labor Day • Congress declares a federal holiday • May Day Haymarket Riot • Department of Labor outlines Labor Day • AFL-CIO statement on Labor Day • JoshShear.com: The Origins of Labor Day

What is focus? How does it manifest in our brains? How about distractions? How can we avoid them? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Jocko Willink • Brain Balance Guide: The neurochemistry of focus • Donepezil • Galantamine • Scientists pinpoint brain's anti-distraction mechanism • Triggering the brain's autofocus • The case for incorporating mindfulness • The two brain systems that control our focus • The science of staying focused •  Pomodoro method, • JoshShear.com: What is focus, and how do we avoid distractions?

Do you need more confidence? How about less? Here's how to find the right balance. Hold my beer! This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Hold my beer: People with maybe a little TOO much confidence • Creativity by Elkhonon Goldberg • Metacognitive confidence: A neuroscience approach • We can increase confidence using artificial intelligence and brain imaging • American Confidence Institute • JoshShear.com: Confidence, what it is and how to get it

Something that many people moving on and up in their careers — or starting new businesses, raising their prices, etc. — suffer from is impostor syndrome. What is it? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Impostor syndrome (Wikipedia) • The reality of impostor syndrome • Feel like a fraud? • Carole Lieberman • What is impostor syndrome? • JKWD: In praise of compliments • Valerie Young • 5 different types of impostor syndrome • Master Key Experience • JoshShear.com: Impostor syndrome

HEY! Who needs a rabbit hole to go down? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Naval Ravikant on Joe Rogan's podcast • Agrippa's trilemma • Pascal's triangle • Falsifiability (Wikipedia) • Snakehead fish • JoshShear.com: Beliefs aren't facts

There's an adage that says, "Silence is golden." But why? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Dr. Drew on Duncan Trussell's podcast • Oak • Remedy Float • Long bouts of silence can help start growing new neurons • Silence could be a treatment for Alzheimer's • Pauses in music lead to calm • Our brains are more active when not dealing with stimulus • Finland has made solitude part of its tourism marketing plan • Peter Gasca on input vs. output • Thomas Oppong on working alone and collaboratively • Calm • Headspace • Omvana • Mindfold sleep mask • Ear plugs • JoshShear.com: Getting in your head

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." Is that always true? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Social comparison study by two Princeton researchers • Jealousy spikes stress hormones • Pride gives us a strong, positive emotional response • The four-minute mile • 12-year-old skateboarder lands a 1080-degree spin • The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler • JoshShear.com: On comparison

They say patience is a virtue. Where does it live in our brains? How do we get more of it? This episode is brought to you by Kettle & Fire. Save 10% off your order with code BetterHumanhood. Links: • Stanford marshmallow delayed gratification study • Part 1 of our happiness series • Happiness chemicals • Seratonin regulates patience and impulsivity • Selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) • Human study on delayed gratification • Default Mode Network • Chade-Meng Tan, Joy on Demand, • Oak • JoshShear.com: Patience, success, confidence and happiness

Revolutions are edited. We discuss Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence and what self-evident might really mean. We also read the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Links: • Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence • U.S. Declaration of Independence • John Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" • Walter Isaacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin • JoshShear.com: Who's on your personal board of directors? • JoshShear.com: Self-evident, sacred and undeniable Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

What if you stopped listening to what other people said you should do and just did stuff you wanted to do? Links: • Feck Perfuction by James Victore • Shepard Fairey • No More Mr. Nice Guy by Robert A. Glover • JKWD: What drives you? • Cal Fussman's podcast • JoshShear.com: Do it for you Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

What happens when we shut down our fantasies? When we stop believing in things we can't see? When we stop dancing? Links: • Feck Perfuction by James Victore • JoshShear.com: Losing our shame • "Pan's Labyrinth" • "Hellboy" • Pirates of the Caribbean • Star Wars • "The Neverending Story" • JoshShear.com: Keep your fantasies alive, and why you should dance at weddings Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. Where did it come from? How do we celebrate? We also read the Toast to the Flag. Links: • WikiPedia: Flag Day • Flag etiquette • Toast to the Flag • JoshShear.com: Where does Flag Day come from? Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

We discuss how listening makes connections in your brain, and look at what we're taking in through our ears. Links: • JoshShear.com: Notes on Bert Kreischer's conversation with Bobby Kelly • JoshShear.com: Notes on Mike Baker on Joe Rogan's podcast • How much time do people spend reading, listening and watching? • Audiobooks are more engaging than films or TV • Listening is a shortcut to assimilating our brains to our surroundings • Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace • Jason Segal on Marc Maron's podcast • Digging Up Mother by Doug Stanhope • Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins • JKWD Podcast • Tim Ferriss' podcast • Joe Rogan's podcast • Big Questions with Cal Fussman • Timesuck with Dan Cummins • Duncan Trussell Family Hour • Astonishing Legends • JoshShear.com: What are you listening to? Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

Every generation has a "kids these days" moment, but between Gen Xers and Millennials, we had a huge technological leap, and problems today aren't even recognizable to earlier generations. Links: • Millennials are reviving the market for houseplants • #FirstWorldProblems on Twitter • JoshShear.com: Rambling thoughts on innovation • Roger Bannister • The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler • JoshShear.com: Plant parents, 'first world problems' and human improvement Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

We often think of Memorial Day as the unofficial start to summer in the U.S., but where does it come from? What does it really mean? Links: • All About History: Memorial Day • JoshShear.com: What Memorial Day means Subscribe: • iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Player.fm • Google Play • TuneIn • LibSyn (RSS) • Subscribe on Android

In the third part of a three-part series on happiness, we look at the things that make us happy. Links: • Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker • Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra • The Myths of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky • The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt • Gapminder test • Man's Search for Himself by Rollo May • Feck Perfuction by James Victore • JoshShear.com: The universe isn't out to get you • Law of attraction • Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan • Joy on Demand by Chade-Meng Tan • JKWD: Response versus reaction • Happiness is a Stochastic Phenomenon (PDF) • Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert • JoshShear.com: What makes us happy?

Were you happy? Are you happy? Will you be happy? Heck, will you have been happy? In the second part of a three-part series on happiness, we discuss the time element of being happy. Links: • Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker • Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra • Man's Search for Himself by Rollo May • Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert • The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt • JoshShear.com: When is happiness?

What is happiness? What does it look like? What does it do in our brains? We start a three-part series on happiness, one of the core subjects we love exploring at Better Humanhood. Links: • Which chemicals in our brain are associated with happiness • Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert • JKWD: Control and letting go • JoshShear.com: What is happiness?