Startup Rebels

One of the marks of great poetry is "strangeness": A felt shift in consciousness, a gear that turns in your head upon encountering a mind alien to your own. Another mark of great poetry is allusion. Chains of rich references between poets, either in homage or resistance, going back to the earliest days of the tradition.

Today we explore these concepts while enjoying a bunch of poems from Allen Ginsburg, E.E Cummings, Frank O'Hara, W.B Yeats, and others. We also talk about narcissism, social malcontents, psychedelics, bitterness vs. growth, Nietzsche vs. Dostoevsky, and pooping in the backyard.

Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads, according to Marianne Moore. It's a way of discovering and rediscovering amazement, deep truths, and beauty. It's probably the most underutilized form of reading in your toolkit right now: It's short, crystalline, easy to weave into your day, but has a reputation of being difficult to engage with.

In this episode we're going to provide you with a basic toolkit that will allow you to enjoy reading poetry more while also helping you get more out of it. We'll also read a bunch of poems, recommend some books, and talk about an ungodly range of semi-related topics.

Today we continue our discussion on the British government's nudge unit, but we focus on the other side of the coin: Is it right for the government, or anyone, to use these techniques? Do they actually work? Who nudges the nudgers?

We also discuss our results from using a handful of simple behavioral nudges to get each other to read more.

If you were asked to compose a poem to represent your life as you drew your last breaths, would it be eloquent? As a final episode on characters and traditions from the Kyoto Renaissance, today we're talking about Japanese death poems.

These are short poems written by haiku poets, zen monks, and samurai on their death beds, and represent a lifetime of creative output, refinement of mind, or martial prowess condensed into a few final lines.

We discuss several of these poems, their content, context, the people who wrote them, their symbolism, and share a few tips on reading poetry.

What if you could save dramatically more money, drink less, smoke less, or perhaps read more through simple psychological interventions called nudges?

This week, we discuss the results, ethics, inner workings, and scientific background of a British government unit called the Behavioral Insights Unit. What if we could be governed with more choice and less control, while still protecting people's lives and well-being? Is it too good to be true?

If you want to read along, we dug into "Inside the Nudge Unit" by David Halpern for this episode.

What can a zen master and a samurai teach us about fearlessness, mastery, and the true nature of mind? This week, we talk about the work of the zen master Takuan Soho and the legendary samurai Yagyu Munenori, two friends and collaborators whose investigations are still profoundly powerful to this day.

This is a follow up to our podcast on Miyamoto Musashi: His book was inspired by Takuan's Unfettered Mind and he was a contemporary of both Munenori and Soho. Munenori was an elite insider and Musashi was an untutored outsider, so it's valuable to see where they agree and where they differ.

The youtube videos that go along with this podcast are about the psychology and neuroscience of meditation.

Check out:

• Our youtube channel
• Our podcast episode on Musashi

Do not begrudge death, envy another's good or evil, or lament parting on any road whatsoever. And though you may give up your life, never give up your honor. What type of person adheres to a code this stringent? And tests their indefatigable virtue at the cutting edge of an opponent's blade in 67 duels to the death?

In this episode we explore the writing, life, and psychology of Miyamoto Musashi. We dig into research on the difference between elite athletes like Musashi and others, the psychological impact of of a stoic mindset, and what startups like ours can learn from the strategic mind and unyielding will of this legendary samurai.

What does Frederick Douglass tell us about the capacity for a human being to thrive under the worst possible condition? What modern research backs up his astute observations about human nature, conformity, growth, self-education, religion, and evil? And if you were alive in the early 1800s what might have made you an abolitionist, a reluctant slaveholder, or worse?

Find out on this episode of Reading Rebellion.