Dr. David Agus on The Hopeful Science of a Longer, Healthier Life (#280)
Dr. David Agus, USC Professor of Medicine and CEO of the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, treats presidents, CEOs and cultural icons and has spent decades studying one question: What determines how long and well we live?His answer is hopeful: Only 4% is genetic. The other 96% is under your control.In this episode, he reveals why elephants rarely get cancer, why giraffes never get heart disease, and what inflammation does to nearly every organ in your body. He also shares the simple, proven habits that matter more than DNA, and destroys the myths quietly harming millions.Science-backed. Actionable. Hopeful.
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What US Ambassador to China Nick Burns Saw That Terrified Him (#279)
Nicholas Burns spent 2021 to 2025 in Beijing as US Ambassador to China, witnessing up close the forces shaping the world's most dangerous rivalry.Sitting across from Xi Jinping and living in China, he saw firsthand how dangerously close the world is to a crisis. Some of it genuinely terrified him.Our conventional wisdom about China? Outdated. And dangerously wrong.In this episode, he reveals the alarming "nightmare scenario" almost no one is talking about, why a single unanswered phone call could spark disaster, and what we're getting wrong about China and what China is getting wrong about us.All from someone who lived it.
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Three Science-Backed Changes That Will Help You Sleep Better - Starting Tonight (#278)
Sleep shapes your mood, memory, immune system, and long-term health, yet most of us aren’t getting enough. Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham sleep scientist Dr. Elizabeth Klerman shares the three easiest science-backed changes proven to improve your sleep tonight, plus the myths that make things worse. If you’re struggling to fall asleep, waking at 3 a.m., or dragging through the day, this episode is for you.
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17:39
What Happened When My Daughter Was Born Looking White - And I Wasn’t (#277)
In a Paris hospital delivery room, Thomas Chatterton Williams, writer for The Atlantic and author of Self-Portrait in Black and White, held his newborn daughter for the first time. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. And in that instant, everything he thought he knew about race shattered.Thomas lives the questions about race and identity that most of us only debate. The son of a Black father who grew up under Jim Crow and a white mother, he had accepted America's racial categories without question. Until he couldn't.What he decided is radical. Controversial. And will challenge how you think about identity, George Floyd, and the categories we use to define ourselves.
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The Thermostat in Your Brain: Pushing Past Your Limits with Nick Thompson (#276)
What if fatigue, fear, and even failure aren’t real limits, but signals from the brain trying to protect us?Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and former Editor-in-Chief of Wired reveals the surprising psychology behind fatigue, focus, and fear and how our biggest limits often come from within.Nick isn’t just one of the most thoughtful leaders in media, he’s also a record-breaking ultramarathoner who’s learned that endurance begins in the mind.This conversation will change how you think about performance, aging, and the power of effort itself.Nick's wonderful new book is The Running Ground.
3 Takeaways features insights from the world’s best thinkers, business leaders, writers, politicians, scientists and other newsmakers. Each episode ends with 3 key takeaways to help you understand the world in new ways that can benefit your life and career. Hosted by Lynn Thoman.