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Ultra-athlete & bestselling author Rich Roll talks with Oxford professor of philosophy William MacAskill about Effective Altrusim & how to maximize our positive global impact.
Today we explore what it truly means to live healthy and well.We discuss the destructive role of stress and anxiety on the immune system. We go deep into mental health, our epidemic of depression and the curative impact of mindfulness and meditation. We explore the role of connection, meaningful relationships, intimacy and love on disease prevention. And we stress the importance of finding purpose as crucial to living truly well. But more than anything, this is a conversation not just about how to live well and long.
“We are part of nature. Nature is part of us. Stardust is in us and we are in stardust. We are all part of this same endeavor which is life and the Universe.”Jared Blumenfeld
The theme of this podcast is conversations that matter with thought leaders making a difference.
My conversation with today’s guest perfectly embodies the best of this ethos.
A man who has spent the last two decades fighting to create tangible benefits for communities and ecosystems alike, Jared Blumenfeld is a former U.C. Berkeley-trained international environmental lawyer with an impressive resume that includes stints at the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) as well as the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) before running one of San Francisco’s first city Departments focused entirely on the environment, where he was instrumental in helping transform San Francisco into the “greenest city” in America.
In 2009, President Obama appointed Jared to serve as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator for the Pacific Southwest (Region 9), which includes California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 tribal nations. During his 7-year tenure at EPA, Jared diligently pursued environmental justice and enforcement, focusing on climate change, recycling, tribes, and drinking water. Along the way his team made massive strides in combating corporate polluters, protecting coastal waters, accelerating clean vehicle adoption and advancing tribal community environmental well being.
Then, in 2016, he decided to walk away from his career to pursue a life-long dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail – an effort to embrace first hand the environment he has spent his life protecting.
Jared has appeared frequently in The New York Times, BBC, Economist, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, Los Angeles Times, NPR and recently launched his own podcast entitled, Podship Earth.
As you might imagine, this is a wide-ranging conversation about planetary preservation and ecological conservation.
It’s a gut check on the current status of global climate change — what is contributing to it, the challenges faced in combating it, and the responsibility we all share to steward our precious planet towards a greener future.
It’s also a very frank redress of our current administration’s attempt to deny reality. Right now, we’re facing an indisputably massive and ever growing threat to planetary health. Yet current EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s reversal of long-standing environmental policy buttressed by his refusal to embrace scientifically irrefutable facts related to global climate change, poses a very real threat to the long-term well-being of this spaceship we all share called Earth.
It’s a conversation about what’s required, both on a policy and personal level, to correct past wrongs and steward a healthier, more sustainable path forward.
And finally, it’s the story of one man’s remarkable life and his commitment to ensure a better future for us all (plus awesome stories about his four month quest to conquer the Pacific Crest Trail, and how it made him a better human).
I really enjoyed this one. I hope you do too.
Peace + Plants
OBJECTIVES: Affective neuroscience research that investigates core symptoms of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) may be effective in differentiating PBD phenotypes. The current study used affect-modulated startle to examine potential differences in reactivity to emotional stimuli (reward and punishment) in narrow and broad phenotype PBD and controls.
METHODS: Thirty children meeting DSM-IV bipolar disorder criteria (i.e. narrow phenotype PBD with defined manic episodes with elevated/expansive mood), 19 children meeting criteria for severe mood dysregulation (i.e. broad phenotype with chronic irritability, hyper-reactivity, and hyperarousal), and 19 controls completed a lottery startle paradigm involving reward (money) and punishment (loud noise). Startle probes were presented during anticipation of the emotional stimulus, immediately following the presentation of the stimulus, or during return to baseline following the stimulus.
RESULTS: By self-report, patients and controls found the putative punishment to be preferable to the neutral condition. In the reward condition, patient samples reported greater arousal than did controls, but no between-group differences were found on the magnitude of startle response during the reward, punishment, or neutral conditions.
CONCLUSIONS: The failure to find differences in affect-modulated startle between control children and those with narrow or broad PBD phenotypes speaks to the methodological challenges associated with studying reward mechanisms in PBD. Alternative paradigms that focus on different aspects of reward mechanisms are discussed.
Zotero Collections:
“If we don’t reconnect with nature, we will just destroy it again.”Zach Bush MD
In my humble opinion, Zach Bush, MD isn’t just one of the most compelling medical minds currently working to improve our understanding of human and environmental health. He’s a virtuoso healer. A master consciousness. And a gift to humanity.
Today Dr. Bush returns to the podcast (his first appearance was RRP #353 in March of 2018) for a formidable and moving conversation that will leave you rethinking not only how you eat and live, but what it means to be a conscious consumer and engaged citizen of this precious planet we all share.
A pioneer in the science of well-being, Dr. Bush is the founder and director of M Clinic, an integrative medicine center in Charlottesville, Virginia, and one of the only ‘triple board-certified’ physicians in the country, expert in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Hospice/Palliative care.
How we treat the planet impacts human biology. Intuitively, we understand this to be fact. But what distinguishes Dr. Bush from his medical peers is his rigorous application of science, strength of humanity, and the intelligence of nature to his commitment to transforming our world. A man with a deep understanding of the interdependence of macrocosm and microcosm, Dr. Bush’s brilliance truly shines on subjects like soil degeneration and regeneration. The relationship between intensive farming practices and the rise of environmental degradation and chronic disease. And his vision for a more integrated and holistic approach to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.
My initial conversation with Dr. Bush remains one of the most mind-blowing, impactful and popular discourses in the history of this show. Picking up where we left off, today’s episode exceeds all expectations — another conversation for the ages that will permanently alter how you think about everything from health, nutrition, disease, medicine, agriculture and environmentalism to what it means to be a spiritual being in this human experience we collectively share.
It’s 2019 people. It’s time to stop screwing around. It’s time to get educated. And it’s time to once-and-for-all take control of our personal health and that of the planet we inhabit.
I ask only that you listen keenly. Take notes. And no matter what, stick around to the very end. Zach concludes the podcast with what I can only describe as the most poignant and moving closing monologue in the history of this program – a bold statement I don’t make lightly.
If you thought last week’s podcast with David Goggins was peak RRP, think again, Because today, the doctor is in.
Final note: the podcast is now available on Spotify and viewable on YouTube at: bit.ly/zachbush414
Final Final Note: My friend and team member David Kahn “DK” joins us this week for an extended introductory segment to discuss his health goals for 2019. I’m interested in your thoughts on having DK pop in from time to time so we can track his progress. Together, let’s help him transform! Tweet @richroll and @daviddarrenkahn with your suggestions and feedback using the hashtag #DKgoals.
Peace + Plants