Living30
By Max Finder
Living30 Jan 23, 2020
Skipping Number 2
Josh and Max talk about addiction, shame, destructive danieling and passover. Chag sameach v' kasher!
Iran Attack, Dogs, and Turbulence
Josh and Max do their fuckin' thing week in and week out baby!
Snagging Jews
Josh and Max talk about dating
Make a Pile
Things Fall Apart...and out of us
Avalanches, Brazil Nuts, and Jewish Shawns
Josh and Max catch up on personal finance and other shit.
Polyps, Phylacteries & Psychadelics
Josh and Max introduce the new podcast format and lament the fact that everyone has a podcast.
Noam Shuster - Be Flexible
Uplifting interview with Noam Shuster, a comedian and peace builder who was living her dream...until the pandemic hit and she was forced to adapt and be flexible. Her show at the Kennedy Center in NYC was cancelled. She flew back to Israel only to get Covid on the flight, be quarantined in one of Israel's infamous corona hotels, and then have to deal with all the symptoms of her new normal. Throughout it all she's learned to rest, have patience, and continue to create. We talk comedy, peacebuilding, becoming an online creator, feelings of doubt and self-worth and much more.
Noam is a freelance comedian, performer, peacebuilder and activist. She grew up in Neve Shalom Wahat Al Salam, the only intentional Jewish and Arab village in Israel. Noam performs in 3 languages, and through her cutting cynicism and humor, she is a natural bridge-builder. In 2018, she was named the “New Jewish Comedian of the Year” in London. The same year, she was also the first Jewish performer in the Palestine Comedy Festival. Noam spent 2019 on scholarship at the Harvard Divinity School developing her one woman show.
See her latest video inviting Arab tourists to visit Israel, which just got 1 million views in a few days.
Here's a piece she wrote about her experience in the Corona hotel. Also see about her experience on CNN and hear about it on NPR.
This article has two of my favorite jokes from her:
“I care about the political causes, but I’m 31 and single, so I go to the demonstrations mainly to look for dates. And when I go to the demonstrations, the problem is the only people who look like they have taken a shower are the police officers.”
She downloaded Tinder and immediately swiped two cousins in a row. She was horrified, but her grandmother said, “If we were in Iran, you would have married your cousin a long time ago".
Follow Noam on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook.
Like this episode? Check out another interview with comedian Katie Burrell.
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Mackenzie Donaldson - The Worst They'll Ever Say is No
Mackenzie (Macky) Donaldson is a Toronto and Los Angeles based director, producer and writer. She recently finished producing her first feature documentary, Citizen Bio (see the trailer), about biohackers aka citizen-driven biomedical research. It premiere's on Showtime October 30th. She is actively involved in The Producer Pledge and Impact. Macky and I talk about the importance of getting more minorities and people of color telling their stories in the film industry, the microchip that's been inserted in her hand, emulating her father and being aware of death in everyday life, her daily routines and work as a producer, what to do when at a crossroads, the importance of saying yes to everything early in your career, how she's now trying to focus in her 30's, the pressure and balance of biological clocks and wanting children, and how to ask for what you want. Find Macky as @mackiegd on Twitter and Instagram.
Recently released, Mackenzie just finished producing the first season of Snowpiercer for TNT/HBO Max, also available on Netflix. Named “One to Watch” by Playback’s Top 5 in 2015 and a 2016 TIFF Emerging Canadian Filmmaker, Mackenzie is most well known for her work producing the critically acclaimed; Emmy, Peabody and CSA award-winning; and Golden Globe nominated show Orphan Black. Mackenzie executively produced the award-winning digital series Whatever, Linda, which she is now adapting into an hour long TV drama for Bell Media, through her production company The Donaldson Company. It will be Executively Produced by her producing partner Graeme Manson. She released her first feature film, and directorial debut, The Definites - here's the trailer - in 2017 through Mongrel Media and Turn Key Films. She has directed and produce multiple other short films - too many to put here!
Photo cred: Daniel Hewett
Interested in more episodes about female filmmakers? Listen to Alison Klayman - What are you Willing to Bleed for
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Benjamin Hackman - You're Gonna Die
Heavy, REAL and life-affirming interview with Benjamin Hackman, frontman for the Holy Gasp and composer-in-residence at the Historic Kiever Synagogue in Toronto. We talk about our father's deaths, the grieving/mourning process, grief in today's culture, losing a parent, choosing life and much more.
The upcoming show, The Holy Gasp presents Grief, is on Wednesday, July 1, at 9:03pm – 5:41am Eastern Standard Time. Link to the livestream on Facebook and Youtube or on www.theholygasp.com. The public is invited to record the names of their deceased loved ones in the Database of the Dead. Each name entered into the database will later be inscribed into a scroll, from which Benjamin will read throughout the evening as the ensemble of 10 vocalists, 2 pianists, and percussion, performs Grief. The performance will be considered complete only after every name has been read, and the sun has come up.
Here's a quote from Benjamin as part of his motivation
"In the last five years, my father died of a heart attack; my therapist died of pancreatic cancer; my brother-in-law overdosed; my oldest friend hanged himself—then another friend died in a car accident, and my grandmother, God bless her, died of good ol’ fashion old age. Death is happening all over. Indeed, it always has. It is awkward, and painful, and it unites every last being who has ever lived."
Find Benjamin on Twitter and Facebook.
About The Holy Gasp: Formed in 2011 by front man Benjamin Hackman, The Holy Gasp make music for fans of theatrical, darkly comical, genre-defiant entertainment, with instrumentation and personnel changing regularly to meet the needs of each new project. At its core, The Holy Gasp is concerned with renegotiating the parameters of a “band,” and seeks to find the intersections between music, literature, theatre, and performance art. Their most recent release, Mmm Urkh But , is a 16-minute work of musical fiction, written for bass clarinet and percussion. Readers my also be familiar with The Holy Gasp’s orchestral performance of The Love Songs of Oedipus Rex back in 2018, the making of which was the subject of a CBC Short Doc by director Luke Sargent.
Quotes Mentioned
"Better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of merriment, for death is the destiny of every man, and the living should take this to heart."
Ecclesiastes 7:2
Books Mentioned
Photo Cred: Alex Gray
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Ariel Lefkowitz - The Human Doctor
Moving discussion with Ariel Lefkowitz, a friend and young doctor, who was recently the attending physician on the Covid ward at one of Toronto's major hospitals where he quickly realized that the situation required a more significant and evolving level of compassion and humanity than he and any of his co-workers had ever experienced. It's a fascinating look at what it's like to be a doctor and a leader during these tumultuous times. We talk about his experiences on the ward, worrying about colleagues, staff and infecting family at home, and more generally about love, family, mentors, and knowing and committing at a young age to spend a decade becoming a doctor.
Ariel was also just featured on the front page of Toronto Life with a powerful memoir of his 14 days on the ward. There's detailed accounts of each day and the minutiae that goes on in his mind as he, his family and his colleagues navigate this unknown disease.
Photo cred to Toronto Life and Christopher Wahl.
Books Mentioned
Remi Dion - Stranded With Purpose
Remi Dion is a friend and fellow engineer who studied at McGill University. He is currently doing a masters in artificial intelligence, and was on a semester abroad at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in the South province of Tamil Nadu when all of the Covid-19 stuff began. His story is pretty insane and he is at present still trapped in South India with no visible way to return to his home country of Canada. Canada seems to have neglected its citizens stranded around the world, so please consider signing this petition to bring attention to Canada's inadequate efforts to retrieve its citizens. Remi has been all over Quebec media, include this TV interview (It's in French).
We talk about the situation in India, the scary realities of Remi's quarantine, the silver linings in all of this, the learnings of travel, quarantine routine, strategies for goal setting, a much more. It's a really interesting conversation in the midst of all this craziness.
Follow Remi on Facebook for updates on his situation and also check him out on Twitter and Instagram.
Click here to listen, or get it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever your pleasure.
Pair with the podcast episode Josh Goldstein - The Man Who Moved to Alaska and the blog post "Calluses".
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Books
The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes
Tools Mentioned
Basti Hansen - Zoom Out
Extremely motivating discussion with adventure filmmaker and photographer, Basti Hansen. Basti is one of the hardest working guys I know, editing into the wee hours of the morning and always in another part of the world shooting. Originally from Germany, he's a Tel Aviv-based filmmaker who's worked with Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, IQOS, Universal Music, and more. And he only started working with a camera 6 years ago!
We talk how to take yourself seriously, create a body of work, partnerships in the midst of demanding work schedules and open relationships, and how to zoom out and look at your life and its trajectory in the context of daily tasks.
Find him on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and check out his work, lightroom presets, and a useful set of FAQs on bastihansen.com
Pair with this post on Taking the Stairs, and this podcast with Mia Schon - Calling Myself an Artist.
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Videos
"Micro Documentary" with a musician who lost his home and everything to a wildfire except a 12-string guitar, with which he just recorded an album - Facing Flames
Merceds Benz commercial in the American West
Music video with Noa Kirel and Stephane Legar
Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade 2017
Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade 2018
His first video that he shot while in India - Sand to Stone
Books
Mia Schon - Calling Myself an Artist
Inspiring interview with Mia Schon, better known as Mosaic with Mia. She's a public artist specializing in mosaics with works all around Tel Aviv. She's extremely talented and we talk about how hard it is to finally have the courage to start calling yourself an artist, working through the non-glamorous aspects of being a professional artist, how to put yourself out there and deal with rejection, and how an annoying, vandalized wall across from her apartment set her off on the journey she's on today.
Mia Schon is an American-Israeli mosaic mural artist and instructor who works out of her studio in Tel Aviv, Israel. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Fine Art and Design in 2009. After settling in Boston, In 2014, Mia made the decision to visit Tel Aviv for three months but quickly fell in love with the city for its vibrant art scene, heart, and soul — and has split her time between both cities ever since.
With a strong affinity for public art, Mia has made it her mission to spread large colorful mosaics throughout Israel and internationally incorporating local tiles and recycled materials into her work. She enjoys collaborating and then creating commissioned pieces and often you can find her out on the street with a hammer in hand working on her latest street art mural. In addition to her public art, Mia teaches small mosaic workshops out of her studio twice a month and upon request.
Visit her website www.mosaicwithmia.com and follow her on Instagram at @mosaicwithmia and Facebook at @mosaicwithmia
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Books Mentioned
Links
Kuchinate - African Refugee Women's Collective
Our Generation Speaks - Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurship program
Effie (EZ) Rinsky - How to Write a Book
Scintillating conversation with fiction author Effie Rinsky, a man who has read Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, twice. Just to say, Bill Gates, an avid reader, is afraid of even starting this 1000 page tome. Effie and I talk morning habits, exercise, drinking and drugs, procrastinating, how in writing you can only learn by doing and being terrible for a while, and if you're going to do something hard it has to be the thing you want to do the most.
E.Z. Rinsky has worked as a bagel maker, statistics professor and–for one misguided year–a street musician. He's released two novels with Harper Collins (as E.Z. Rinsky). The first, Palindrome, was short-listed for the International Thriller Writers award for best debut novel, and has been translated and published in the Czech Republic. He's currently working on a new novel and a TV pilot. He lives in Tel Aviv.
You can find Effie on his website www.ezrinsky.com
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Show Notes
Books
Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer
Links
David Foster Wallace - This is Water
James Altucher - The Ultimate Guide for Becoming an Idea Machine
Mark Twain Quote - The correct quote isn't about cold showers but is about eating a live frog - “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
Liz Plank - Just Be Yourself
Absolutely phenomenal new episode of the Living30 podcast with the animated, insightful and hilarious Liz Plank. We talk procrastination, therapy, finding purpose and fulfillment, self-esteem, coming out, and boundaries. Enjoy!
Liz is an author and award-winning journalist as well as host of several critically acclaimed digital series at Vox Media. She's been listed as one of Forbes' ‘30 Under 30,’ Mediaite’s ‘Most Influential in News Media,’ Marie Claire’s ‘List of Most Powerful Women,’ and was recently ranked as one of the world’s most influential people in gender policy. Her first book, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity, was published on September 10, 2019. She regularly appears on MSNBC offering her perspective on national politics, disability and women’s issues. She's built a loyal following on numerous social media platforms, but her proudest accomplishment by far remains being blocked by the 45th President of the United States.
She's on Twitter as @feministabulous, and same on Instagram and Facebook and selected work of hers can be found on her website at http://www.elizabethplank.com/
If you enjoyed listening to this and want to consider supporting the blog and podcast, click here to help me keep making this stuff. Either way, thanks for listening!
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Show Notes
Oprah's Super Soul Sunday Sunday Podcast
Will Smith - Self Esteem Video
Brene Brown - Vulnerability TED Talk
Dr. Sarah Taber - Be the Falcon, Not the Hawk
Fascinating new episode of Living30 podcast with Dr. Sarah Taber. The first half is very agriculture heavy, where we talk about breaking the good ol' boys club of farming, social media, and millennials' connection with their food. The second half is more focused on Dr. Taber realizing around age 30 that she wanted to leave the Mormon church, why 30 is the age that people gain independence, and how it all connects to her mission in the world of agriculture.
Click here for the episode or check it out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen.
Dr. Sarah Taber is a crop and food safety scientist with a PhD in plant medicine from the University of Florida. She's worked on farms and labs, is the founder of a caviar company Persephone, and she podcasts on Farm to Taber. Her favorite challenges are designing robust human systems; training financial backers in physical and human capital; and reminding the industry that blockchain can’t stop food fraud, because both parties in fraudulent food transactions are usually in on it anyway.
She's on Twitter @SarahTaber_bww.
Show Notes
Adam Ruins Everything Nutrition Episode
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Ed Latimore - It's Never Too Late
Ed Latimore is a professional heavyweight boxer, a veteran of the Army National Guard, a chess player with a degree in physics, an author and prominent self-help blogger. He writes about what it was like growing up in the hood, his reflections on his six years of sobriety including his book "Sober Letters to my Drunken Self", and how to quit porn. Find Ed on his inspiring Twitter feed and his blog www.edlatimore.com
We talk about the moment when he realized he needed a change, his approach to relationships, thoughts on addiction and sobriety, and how it's never too late to start getting after it. Ed is an inspiring guy and it was truly great to get a chance to speak with him. Enjoy!
Books mentioned:
Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
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Nate Hersh - The Tattooed Doctor
Nate Hersh is a 2nd year medical student at Jefferson University hospital who decided 'late' in life to become a doctor. Before that he was the managing director for Partners for Progressive Israel, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He has written articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Haaretz. including a recent op-ed in the New York Times on Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's call to boycott the phenomenal HBO series 'Our Boys', with Nate calling it an "attempt to silence self-reflection". Nate also spent two years as a staff sergeant in the Israeli Defense Forces.
We talk about sobriety, getting serious with your life, finding meaningful work, being of service, tricks to overcome vices and much more. Enjoy!
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Alison Klayman - What Are You Willing To Bleed For?
Alison is an award winning film director and journalist. Her new short movie Flower Punk about Japanese artist Azuma Makoto, who has sent his floral sculptures into space and sunk them to the bottom of the ocean, premieres in New York City on November 7th. Her latest feature, The Brink, where she followed Steve Bannon around for over a year up to and through the 2018 midterm elections, is available on Hulu.
We talk about workaholics, inspiration, starting projects and finishing them, relationships as part of a busy and successful life, getting out of your comfort zone, impostor syndrome and much more.
Read more about Ali on her website, and follow her on twitter @aliklay.
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Alison Klayman was the youngest director named by the New York Times chief film critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis on their international list of 20 Directors to Watch. Alison’s documentary work has been recognized with awards and box office success, and she also directs nonfiction series and commercials. Her debut feature AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, about the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded a US Documentary Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance. It had its international premiere at Berlinale and went on to be shortlisted for an Academy Award, nominated for two Emmys, and earn Alison a DGA Award nomination and an appearance on The Colbert Report among other honors. NEVER SORRY has now been translated into over 26 languages and had major theatrical releases around the world, including on over 200 screens with IFC Films in the United States. It was also one of the highest grossing films of 2012 directed by a woman.
Her newest documentary THE BRINK was theatrically released in 2019 by Magnolia Pictures. In it she takes on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, following him for over a year as he tries to promote his brand of extreme nationalism and unite the far-right anti-immigrant parties of Europe. After its Sundance premiere, Variety called the film "impeccably crafted...an engaging and enraging, disturbing and highly revealing movie." In his Critic's Pick review, A.O Scott wrote "it's a fast-moving, tightly packed, at times unnervingly entertaining documentary.”
Alison’s other films include the Netflix Original feature documentary TAKE YOUR PILLS about the role of prescription stimulants in a hyper-competitive, overly medicated America. The Emmy and BAFTA-nominated film was executive produced by Maria Shriver and had its world premiere at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. She is also the director of THE 100 YEARS SHOW about 103-year-old Cuban-American painter Carmen Herrera, who worked in obscurity for decades until finally receiving recognition late in life. The film was a festival favorite and five-time winner of “Best Documentary Short.” It had a theatrical run at New York’s Film Forum, and screened at the Whitney and other museums before being released worldwide on Netflix.
Daniel Kronovet - Knowing the Path & Walking the Path
Daniel is a brilliant blockchain developer and student of philosophy. We talk moving to new places, relationships, responsibility, masculine and feminine energies, being intentional about our choices, and working to not only consume but to create.
You can read some of Daniel's personal and more philosophical writing at kronosapiens.com, his professional writing at kronosapiens.github.io, and follow him on twitter at @kronosapiens.
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Show Notes
Paul Graham's essay on cities
Gary Chapman -- the Five Love Languages
Joseph Campbell -- Hero with a Thousand Faces
Jocko Willink -- Extreme Ownership
Richard Feynman -- Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman
Ira Glass -- The Creative Process
Thomas Kuhn -- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
David Foster Wallace -- Infinite Jest
Katie Burrell - Publicly Learning
Katie is a friend from university and a stand-up comedian and filmmaker. Hands down one of the funniest people I know.
The trailer for her new movie, DREAM JOB, just dropped and she's about to take it on a world tour for the premiere on September 25.
We talk about creating your art, not following the path, taking risks, porn, love, killing the jester, and being your worth.
Follow Katie on Instagram at @katieburrelltv
The audio quality on this one leaves something to be desired. Chalk it up to Zencastr's automatic echo reduction function which you have to diligently realize defaults to "on". But hey - it's very on theme. Lesson learned, and we'll do better next time.
Nonetheless, enjoy, and if you like this post and others and want to consider supporting the blog and podcast, click here to help me keep making this stuff. Either way, thanks for listening!
Show Notes
Influencer Short Film: Link here
Biet Simkin: https://www.bietsimkin.com/
Lateral Thinking Amazon Link
Lacy Philips: https://tobemagnetic.com/
Josh Goldstein - The Man Who Moved to Alaska
In this inaugural episode, I interview a friend I've known since middle school who has lived in some crazy places including New Mexico, Hawaii, and now Alaska. In between, he switched up to live in the urban jungle and do a master in social work at Columbia University in New York City, after which he promptly got the hell out of there and moved to Alaska. We talk career, family, meaning, nature, drugs, and much more. Tune in and let us know what you think! Visit www.living30.blog for more.