Our World From My World with Jeffrey Wagner

In this episode, Jeffrey takes you on a journey through the build-up to a leg injury and then the subsequent process of trying to recover from the sudden physical trauma. Along the way, there is a conversation around how the world changes when one is less than physically perfect and how that impacts everything from shopping to riding an elevator. The conversation dives into the risks of over-relying on physical abilities to define one's life and the fears that rise when those abilities are challenged.

In this episode, Jeffrey returns from hiatus to discuss the continuing pressures of inflation and ways to get more value out of your hard earned money. Particular focus is given to stretching out of your dollars in the winter months and the best way to survive turning the thermostat down. The episode includes a discussion on the overall best money saving tip regardless of the economic conditions and ends with an important inflation primer on how to evaluate your day to day expenses. Be sure to give the show a like & share it with a friend who would also benefit from the information!

In this episode, Jeffrey dives into the topic that is all their rage these days. Aliens, ET, flying saucers and all the other common tropes about beings from other planets visiting our little blue planet!

Jeffrey discusses the Fermi Paradox and the statistical likelihood that alien lifeforms exist and specifically the likelihood that intelligent alien lifeforms exist.

The second half of the episode dives into the reasons why the Fermi Paradox is not that paradoxical at this point and the reason why assuming we would have seen alien life forms or received messages from other beings across the universe is rather arrogant for humanity at this stage in our existence.

Have a thought about alien life forms?

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In this episode, Jeffrey starts out assertive with the belief that anyone, yes anyone, can become a dictator. He then walks through examples of how owning a dog, having kids, attending work meetings and more illustrate the inner dictator within all of us.

In the second half of the episode, Jeffrey outlines the slow pathway from common man to the out-of-touch leader and how easy it is to fall prey to the trappings of power.

Think you could never become a dictator? Dive on in to find out just how often we already illustrate the traits necessary to rule today. And we'd get away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling things like laws and order.

In this episode, Jeffrey takes a seat as an armchair military strategist to discuss potential off-ramps for both sides in this ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

No one wins when bullets start flying but all wars eventually have to end and lives need to return to normal. We evaluate the most likely outcomes for victory from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides of this conflict while also establishing that Russia has already lost the strategic initiative in this conflict.

Outlining 6 different off-ramps (2 for Ukraine and 4 for Russia), it is clear that the violence will unfortunately continue for the foreseeable future and that the pathway of the strong-man authoritarian leader are not always easy to navigate.

To support the people of Ukraine, whether they are within the countries borders being shelled or have moved beyond them to new homes as refugees, I recommend following the links here.

Support Ukraine

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Jeffrey dives into the topic that will soon consume all American & European daily conversations. Inflation. If coronavirus defined 2020 and 2021, the war in Ukraine and inflation around the world will define 2022.

In this episode, we explore where inflation comes from, especially in this particular period of time and take a look at how every person can better handle the rising prices at the pump, grocery store, and beyond.

Rest assured, while inflation will dominate the headlines, you can pull back and save some of your sanity - not to mention dollars or Euros - with some of the simple steps being outlined here.

Don't let runaway prices get you down - the solution to inflation starts and ends with you. Like forest fires, only YOU can prevent inflation from occurring.

In this episode Jeffrey breaks down an issue that befalls people, companies, and countries since time immemorial. The issue of talented leaders going awry and pulling other people down the wrong path in their efforts. A condition dubbed 'The Hitler Leadership Problem', Jeffrey breaks this down using a real world example and explains why sometimes it is better to hire the less impassioned employee, even when conventional wisdom might say otherwise.

To be abundantly clear, Hitler was a terrible person, but there are lessons to learn about how one man who came from nothing managed to convince an entire nation to start a war that killed tens of millions and fundamentally re-shaped the world as we know it today.

In this episode, Jeffrey discusses the wildly popular board game, Settlers of Catan. The episode starts out giving a brief overview of the game for those that haven't played it and then transitions into a discussion of the best strategies to use for consistent success while playing. After going through the strategies of how to win the game, the discussion pivots to fun variants to try and keep the game fresh and challenge yourself to play under new conditions.

Strategy conversation starts at 6:45

New play variants start at 32:15.

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In the conclusion of this three part series, Jeffrey discusses briefly the background behind men retreating from higher education along with why this should matter to us. This leads to a summary discussion of what we can do to try and reverse this 4+ decade trend of decreasing male enrollment within the higher education system.

Links:

WSJ

Jeffrey dives into the second part of his three part series discussing the shocking disparity between male and female college enrollment and graduation rates.

In the second part of the series, Jeffrey starts by explaining why this decline should matter to all of society - men and women alike. Diving into the cultural polarization that extends into our voting patterns, friendships, relationships and beyond, the implications of this divide reach far beyond test scores and diplomas.

During the second half of the conversation, Jeffrey breaks down why the numbers have been changing over the past 40 years and will continue to change into the near future.

Links for this episode:

NPR Article 2022

Main WSJ Article Oct 2021

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