Blinkist Podcast - Interviews | Personal Development | Productivity | Business | Psychology

After collapsing from burnout and sleep deprivation in 2007, Arianna Huffington threw herself into the latest research on sleep, discovering that the sleepless nights she’d depending on to build her career had had profound negative consequences on her health. What she learned was transformative: these days, Huffington is so dedicated to getting a full night of sleep, she won’t even bring her smartphone into the bedroom, for fear of accidentally stimulating a bout of insomnia. We spoke with Huffington about getting onboard the sleep train last year, after she published The Sleep Revolution, an account of her personal experiences with sleep deprivation and a passionate call for others to learn from her mistakes. We think it was a pretty great interview. And since the podcast crew is currently working on some super-special, super-secret new stuff that’s totally inspired by Arianna’s super-simple, super-good advice, we wanted to share the episode with you again today. We hope you enjoy. But more than that, we hope you get some sleep. //// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY //// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Sandra Aamodt is a neuroscientist and former lifestyle dieter who wants to shout what she’s learned from the rooftops: according to the leading research in neuroscience, your brain has decided how much it wants you to weigh and will keep pushing you back to that weight *forever*. If you were already skeptical of popular weight loss methods, the ideas in Sandra’s book, Why Diets Make Us Fat, will be empowering. For the latest episode of Blinkist Podcast, I spoke to Sandra about the science of weight loss, the health advantages of mindful eating, what it’s like to sail to New Zealand, and why depriving yourself of office doughnuts never works. You can find her book on Blinkist: http://blnk.st/2qbi13o ---------------------- Highlights: On the myth of self-control: "It's just not true that somebody can simply decide to take control of their physiology and change it through sheer force of will." On decision fatigue: "Most people make 200 to 300 food-related decisions per day." On weight loss longevity: “Your brain will continue to try to push you back to the weight that it prefers forever.” On food and common sense: "The best way to approach food is by relaxing and enjoying it and paying attention to what your body wants from moment to moment, and trusting that people have been maintaining stable weights for hundreds and thousands of years before anybody ever invented that little scale that you use to weigh chicken breasts." -------------------------- That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux]. Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

For this episode, we talked to Daniel Schacter, professor of psychology at Harvard and the author of The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Our conversation focused on the three “sins of omission” outlined in his book on memory. The big bad memory sins, in order of badness, are: absent-mindedness, transience, blocking. Tune in for Schacter’s insights on how to remember what you have to remember and forget what you need to forget. ____ Highlights: "We tend to think of memory as being all about the past...But remembering the past has a lot in common with imagining the future." "The most dangerous [of the seven sins] is absentmindedness: absentmindedness is the breakdown at the interface of attention and memory." "The take-home message for everyday life: when you know there's something you want to remember...elaborate on that information. Try to relate it to other things you know." ____ That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux]. Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY

In honor of #MindfulMarch, we wanted to bring you two short, special editions of the Blinkist Podcast. Last week, we reviewed the best non-fiction books on mindfulness; today we ask whether mindfulness is the future of work and self care. There’s no doubt that mindfulness appeals to a lot of people. Like local woman, internet superhero, and podcast co-host, Caitlin. She and Ben sat down to work through their conflicted feelings about mindfulness, talk about the perks of loud breathing, and discuss a bunch of other relevant stuff, like - What’s the link between mindfulness and modern stress levels? - Does practicing mindfulness help heal traumas like PTSD? - Why are big-time corporations like Google investing in mindfulness? - Does being mindful really make you more creative and more productive? Will it give you good hair? - What is snake brain? Whether you’re a mindfulness skeptic or a true believer, their 20 minute conversation might persuade you to consider the opposing view. ____ Related podcasts: The Blinkist Primer: What Top Non-Fiction Says About Mindfulness And Meditation http://blnk.st/2ocx6kq Is That Even A Thing? Part 2: The Low-Down on What's Trending in Self-Help http://blnk.st/2ocOTI7 Rebranding Blinkist: How We Got App Store Features in 9 Countries http://blnk.st/2ocItZF Getting Things Done, Then What? The Truth Behind Productivity With David Allen http://blnk.st/2ocG0hP Blinkist Podcast Episode 1: Is That Even a Thing? http://blnk.st/2ocDA2P David Burkus Debunks Everything You Thought You Knew About Creativity http://blnk.st/2ocG9ln ____ That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux]. Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

In honor of #MindfulMarch, we have two short special editions of the podcast to share. The first one is a Blinkist Primer on mindfulness. Caitlin and I went through our new Mindfulness and Happiness category (http://buff.ly/2nech5d) and the “Be More Mindful in 2017” curated reading list (http://buff.ly/2neqmzo) to pluck out the most essential info from top non-fiction books on mindfulness: 1. What do people talk about when they talk about mindfulness? 2. Why are all these people suddenly talking about it? 3. How can I get the benefits others get from it? 4. How do other people practice it? 5. What do the skeptics say? 6. Can I hear what Ben would sound like if he was my personal spiritual podcast guru? (Just kidding. Sort of.) The idea is that after this 20 minutes – or 10 if you listen at 2x speed, you podcast fanatics out there I see you! – you’ll know what everyone’s talking about in the whole mindfulness craze, and you’ll know how to apply it to your own life and understand why everyone keeps talking about it. Simple as that. ______ - Books we mentioned: Get Some Headspace http://buff.ly/2nH4E9U Waking Up http://buff.ly/2nH6F6a The Upside of your Dark Side http://buff.ly/2mUpMFs Wherever You Go, There You Are http://buff.ly/2nHkAZP The Mindful Athlete http://buff.ly/2nHiKIC - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux]. - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY

Hey guys, it's Ben. Before you listen to this week's interview with Adam Alter, author of IRRESISTIBLE: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked (Penguin Press; March 7, 2017), please take our exciting survey -------> goo.gl/dYUjeo (It's just eight questions and takes literally two minutes to fill out. Email me at podcast(at)blinkist(dot)com if you can do it faster. Big thanks to those of you that already have.) This episode is an interview with psychology and marketing professor, researcher, writer, speaker, and overall very smart person Adam Alter, author of IRRESISTIBLE: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked (Penguin Press; March 7, 2017). Alter published the bestselling and amazing and terrifying Drunk Tank Pink in 2013 and is currently on tour talking about his brand new book, Irresistible. The reviews are just starting to come out, and those of us lucky enough to get advance copies are all itchy to talk about it. //// Use code irresistible at Blinkist.com/Friends to get 14 free days of Blinkist. /// Check out the full transcript on the Blinkist Magazine: http://blnk.st/2mpnWiX Then read Irresistible on Blinkist: http://buff.ly/2mkGnoI //// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: blnk.st/28JBVIY //// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Hey guys, it's Ben. Before you listen to this week's interview with Rachel Hills, author of The Sex Myth, please take our **~~exciting~~** survey: -------> https://goo.gl/dYUjeo (It's just eight questions and takes literally two minutes to fill out. Email me at podcast(at)blinkist.com if you can do it faster.) Today we have an interview with Rachel Hills, author of The Sex Myth. We talk about sex, Disney movies and how to not let sex make you anxious — which, in her view, is a major societal problem. Hills is a writer and activist whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Buzzfeed, Jezebel, and more. You can check out her work at TheSexMyth(.)com. //// Use code sexmyth at Blinkist.com/Friends to get 14 free days of Blinkist. //// Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY //// That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook(.)com/niceaux].

Hey guys, it’s Ben. I just wanted to post this quick programming note: I’m away for a little bit because, well, I’m having a baby! Eek! But before I head out for family time, Caitlin and I put together some highlights from all the podcasts we made in 2016. In 2016 we grew into a podcast with tens of thousands of listens. So this episode is a bit of a look back at how we did that, via a 2016 Blinkist podcast Sampler episode. I think it shows how we’ve not only grown and learned a lot about how to make nice podcasts, but also how important it is to talk to authors and thinkers, to hear them open up about how they came up with the ideas that change our lives. It’s definitely changed how I approach challenges, or my semi-creative work. As usual, hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

In this episode of the Blinkist Podcast Ben and Caitlin team up for Is That Even a Thing? Part 2. It’s a follow-up to the first Blinkist Podcast episode ever, the original Is That Even a Thing. In Part II, they discuss and mythbust power posing, gratitude journals, whether or not your devices should be forever banished from the bedroom, and email. Plus, learn about Ben’s newest hobby (it involves carbs), and how imagining herself as an animal helps Caitlin get through first dates — and can help you, too! - As usual, hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Today on the Blinkist podcast, Ben speaks with esteemed behavioral economist, bestselling author, TED speaker extraordinaire, and all around cool guy Dan Ariely. Ariely is the author of Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and (just published) Payoff among other books. His TED talks have been viewed like 8 million times. No big deal. In the interview, Ben and Ariely go into some of the nuts and bolts of behavioral economics, like, why it’s different from standard economics, and what Ariely’s time away from his wife and children teaches us about short-term vs. long-term motivation. (Also: a story about a t-shirt with Ariely's name on it.) Aaaand that’s it for interviews for 2016! Thanks so much for following us this year, it’s been a blast. There are a few more really fun podcasts in the hopper for the turn into 2017, and then we’ll be back at it. Hit us up at podcast@blinkist.com if you want to share some feedback or if you’re itching to hear something in particular. Linkage: - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

This episode is an interview with famous Less Doing More Living author Ari Meisel, a champion of productivity and efficiency. Since beating the incurable Crohn’s Disease through optimizing his body, Ari has had a successful career as an entrepreneur. Recently he started a virtual assistant company called Less Doing and wrote a book with his co-founder Nick Sonnenberg called Idea to Execution that came out in early October. That book is all about how to optimize, automate, and outsource (these are the major themes in Meisel’s approach to success) everything in your business. In the interview, you’ll find out what Ben’s doing wrong when it comes to optimizing his work, Ari’s favorite new tricks and tools out there to be more efficient, and what you can not under any circumstance delegate or outsource to someone else. Linkage: - If you haven't heard it yet, take a listen to our Podcastumentary (Ben note: sorry, had to) about the Blinkist rebrand! The audio and transcript are here: https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/blinkist-rebrand-podcast - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - The year is almost over. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. Email us what you think at podcast@blinkist.com - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Two weeks ago we launched a completely revamped brand, complete with new logo, new art direction, new features in the app, and a whole bunch of fun extras. As the rebrand project started picking up steam in the late summer, we realized that this was a really cool opportunity to try and tell the story of a rebrand from inside. Up close and personal. There was some high drama around the office: Would we finish on time? Would Apple and Google feature the app worldwide, as they hinted to us? How would our users take to the new look and feel of Blinkist? So Ben started interviewing people around the office. He talked to founders, people from mobile development, product managers, designers, and more. This episode of the Blinkist podcast is the story of a rebrand. The story of how the new Blinkist came to be. Linkage: - Feel free to email Ben at podcast@blinkist.com - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Today on the Blinkist podcast we have an interview with branding expert Denise Lee Yohn, author of the book What Great Brands Do. In the interview, Lee Yohn and Ben talk about why all branding starts inside, and how exactly Sony implemented that idea when Lee Yohn was there. Then they get into what happened with brands like Saturn and RadioShack – remember them??? They also tried something new: Lee Yohn and Ben read brief bits from some of their favorite branding books. (Hint: neither of them picked Seth Godin!) A quick intro to Lee Yohn: After her time as brand leader at Sony, she worked on many other big brands, including Land Rover, Jack in the Box, and Burger King. She currently runs her own brand consultancy in addition to giving speeches and writing for the Harvard Business Review blog, her own Brand-As-Business Bites blog, and many other outlets. Linkage: - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - Let Ben know what you think about the podcast by writing him at podcast@blinkist.com - Lee Yohn's blog: http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites-brand-your-business-briefs/ - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on SoundCloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

Today on the podcast, we welcome Cal Newport. Newport is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University but most of us know him as the author of five excellent books, each of which takes a unique view on how to study better, find a career better, or, with his new book Deep Work, work better. Deep work, as he defines it, is professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate. Newport argues that the ability to work deeply is the most important skill to have in our knowledge economy. In our conversation, Newport explains why he thinks we need to teach people a new vocabulary for training focus, and why most of us are living the cognitive equivalent of a couch potato life. He also lays out how anyone can begin learning how to work deeply, right away. Links! - Hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - Newport's blog, Study Hacks, also deserves a shout out. It’s full of examples and tips for how people manage to hunker down and make great things. You can find it here: http://calnewport.com/blog/ - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].

*** Podcast programming alert!! *** Today we have something a little different. Not only do we have Vishen Lakhiani, one of the most forward-thinking CEOs in the world, but we also have him in conversation with one of the Blinkist co-founders, Niklas Jansen. Niklas is a huge admirer of Vishen’s distinctive approaches to his companies, so we figured we should let him ask Vishen whatever he wanted! Vishen is the founder and CEO of Mindvalley, a transformational education company, and Afest, an invite-only festival for entrepreneurs and change-makers that takes place in exotic locations all over the globe. He’s also an author now, and his book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind is just out and already a New York Times bestseller. (Read it on Blinkist here: http://buff.ly/2c41ZNF) It’s cool to hear the two entrepreneurs chat. They talk about morning routines, exercise, and how to get the best possible company culture. But they also talk about the book, and get into Vishen’s distinctive way of optimizing his life, focusing on what he calls Consciousness Engineering and Brules (or bullshit rules). Oh, and as a complement to the new magazine edition on #AlwaysLearning, we have a giveaway! We have five signed copies of Vishen Lakhiani’s book and five memberships to Mindvalley to go with it. Here's what to do to win: download the Blinkist app, sign up, and open the blinks to The Code of The Extraordinary Mind. If you already have the app (well done you!), simply open up the blinks to The Code of The Extraordinary Mind to be in with a chance to win. Extras: - If you like what you hear today, please do hop on over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast or give us a review: http://blnk.st/28JBVIY - Read the key insights to The Code of the Extraordinary Mind on Blinkist: http://buff.ly/2c41ZNF - That excellent intro and outro music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud [@niceaux] and Facebook [www.facebook.com/niceaux].