Modern Wisdom &#8211; Chris Williamson

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History is a Freakshow - Fin Taylor & Horatio Gould - #1019 Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

Fin Taylor is an English comedian, writer and podcaster.

Horatio Gould is also an English comedian, writer, and podcaster.

History is basically one long reminder that no matter how bad your day is, someone in the past was probably getting catapulted off a castle wall. Feel better? Good. Humanity may be a litany of disasters, but the past is packed with lessons, even some dark humor, if you look closely enough.

Expect to learn what makes the Japanese unique and why so many Japanese people practiced Seppuku, why post-war Europe was the funniest time in modern history, wether life was better in the past or just way, way worse than we imagined, why there is a rise of pro-Hitler media across social media, if too much irony is a bad thing, why racism is so ingrained in modern science, if fertility and embryo science has gone too far and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) What Makes Japanese Culture So Distinct? (9:44) Was Post-War Britain the Funniest Time in History? (18:15) The Unlikely Heroes of Post-War Britain (22:30) Life Has Been Much Worse (27:12) How Would Historical Leaders Cope in Today’s World? (32:10) The Shocking Rise of Pro-Hilter Media (42:01) Were the Aztecs as Brutal as We Think? (46:33) Will Bryan Johnson Actually Live to 120? (53:58) Is Too Much Irony a Bad Thing? (01:07:38) Why Was Racism So Ingrained in Science? (01:21:08) When Does Embryo Selection Go Too Far? (01:31:12) What’s Next for Fin and Horatio?

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Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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Behind The Bravado of Modern British Football - Peter Crouch - #1018 Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

Peter Crouch is a former professional footballer, sports pundit, and podcaster.

What was it like playing in the Premier League alongside some of football’s most intense personalities? In an era where a goal celebration, whether it was the robot or a knee slide, showed your confidence as much as your skill, what was life like for Peter Crouch back then, and what’s he up to now

Expect to learn why so many ex-footballers started doing podcasts, what the common psychological archetype of top flight football players are, what being inside Premier League dressing rooms taught Peter about masculinity, why there are still no publicly gay premier league players, how Peter dealt with anxiety and the adrenaline whilst being a footballer, what worst part of the job that the general public don’t understand and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) Why Do Ex-Footballers Turn to Podcasting? (8:39) What Archetype Shapes Most Footballers? (18:37) The ‘Man-Up’ Mentality of Changing Rooms (24:25) Why Don’t Players Want to Come Out? (35:40) Does Success Breed Toxicity in Elite Sport? (43:21) The Importance of Enjoying the Journey (01:00:55) How Peter Used Nerves and Anxiety as Fuel (01:09:48) Why Do Ex-Footballers Go Bankrupt? (01:13:16) The Silent Cost of Heading the Ball: What is it Doing to Players Long-Term? (01:21:19) How British Football Became a Religion (01:25:38) The Key to a Thriving Relationship in the Spotlight (01:34:06) Where to Find Peter

Sponsors:

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Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom

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Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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What Embryo Selection Means for Humanity - Jonathan Anomaly - #1017 Nov 08, 2025

Show notes

Dr Jonathan Anomaly is a philosopher, professor and an author.

What if you could design your own “super baby”? Imagine erasing genetic diseases, removing inherited conditions, and even selecting traits for beauty or intelligence. How close are we to making this possible, and what unintended consequences could this unleash?

Expect to learn why embryo selection will be the next frontier of fertility planning, why screening for traits beyond disease is a slippery slope toward eugenics, what the moral, ethical and realistic arguments are for embryo selection and how big of a societal gap this will create, if you can return the super baby if it didn’t yield desired results, if there were regulations in this space, what red lines would be drawn and what would be left to the market and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) When Does Health Screening Turn Into Human Engineering? (7:08) Does Embyro Selection Risk Deepening Inequality? (14:30) How Can We Soften the Conversation on Genetic Selection? (21:13) Inside Herasight: The Algorithm Powering Polygenic Selection (26:56) Should Parents Drive Embryo Selection During IVF? (33:09) How Can We Tell If Genetic Screening Companies Actually Know What They’re Doing? (46:45) Does Herasight’s Algorithm Work? (51:38) Is Buyer’s Remorse a Risk of Embryo Selection? (01:01:20) Where Do We Draw the Line with Trait Selection? (01:05:15) Could Genetic Selection Lead to Wrongful Life Lawsuits? (01:13:07) How Genetic Selection Impacts Personhood and Identity (01:25:36) Are Genetics Blueprints of Our Lives? (01:36:57) Does Embryo Screening Increase Stigma? (01:45:22) Will Embryo Selection Become a Marketing Race? (01:53:15) What Does the Next Five Years Look Like? (01:58:29) Where to Find Jonathan

Sponsors:

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Extra Stuff:

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Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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Is Having a Boyfriend Cringe Now? - Rob Henderson - #1016 Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

Rob Henderson holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Cambridge and is a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

When did having a boyfriend become cringe? For as long as men have been men and women have been women, finding a partner to share life with has been one of humanity’s oldest goals. So what changed? Why has wanting connection become something to mock, and what can be done to reverse it?

Timestamps:

(00:00) Is Having a Boyfriend Considered Cringe? (13:15) The Vicious Rise of Female Intrasexual Competition (26:40) How is Modern Culture Affecting Fertility? (35:43) The Difference Between Male and Female Intrasexual Competition (46:09) Are Successful Women Limiting Other Women’s Reproduction? (54:04) The Reason Women are More Against Abortion Than Men (01:01:01) The Swag Gap: How Confidence and Status Shape Modern Dating (01:16:22) Is Female Solidarity an Illusion? (01:23:25) Where to Find Rob

Sponsors:

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Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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16 Lessons from The School Of Life - Alain de Botton - #1015 Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

Alain de Botton is a philosopher, author, and founder of The School of Life.

How can we truly understand ourselves? Most of us either ignore our emotions or overthink them, turning simple feelings into complex puzzles. So how do we navigate the minefield of emotion to grow and become better?

Timestamps:

(0:00) The Hidden Trap of Self-Esteem (9:52) Discovering What We’re Actually Capable Of (16:43) How Friendship Protects Us From External Criticism (23:30) Why Men Need to Be Vulnerable with Each Other (31:08) The Deeper Need Behind Status-Seeking (45:35) How Can We Find Meaning in Art? (50:43) Why Thinking Deeply Feels So Uncomfortable (54:28) The Importance of Letting Fleeting Thoughts Breathe (01:01:43) Are We Trapping Our Emotions Through Intellectualisation? (01:13:53) Relearning the Skill of Hope (01:18:17) What Modern Society Really Teaches Us About Love

Sponsors:

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Extra Stuff:

Main website: https://www.theschooloflife.com/

Newsletter sign up: https://www.theschooloflife.com/signup/

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Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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The Life-Changing Skill of Emotional Regulation - Dr Marc Brackett - #1014 Nov 01, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Marc Brackett is a professor at Yale University, the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and author.

Why is it so hard to actually feel our emotions? In a world that tells us to “be more vulnerable,” many of us don’t even know what that really means. Are we being unregulated when we express emotion, or are we finally being human? How can we reconnect with what we feel so we can actually understand ourselves better?

Expect to learn why only 1 in 5 adults can name more than three emotions they feel regularly, what emotional intelligence actually is, why we were taught such few emotional skills, how we can tell the difference between real regulation and repressed emotion, if it is possible to be too self-aware, how you can learn to reframe uncomfortable emotions—like anxiety or envy—into signals instead of shame and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) How Can We Recognise What We’re Feeling? (5:02) What Does it Mean to Regulate Emotion? (10:21) Why Were We Never Taught How to Regulate Our Emotions? (18:56) Why Does Emotional Suppression Come So Naturally? (24:40) Are People Truly Anxious? (34:14) How to Build Emotional Regulation (47:54) The Real Advantage of Becoming Emotionally Intelligent (01:01:32) The Difference Between Feeling Emotions and Processing Them (01:05:13) Why Being ‘Too Sensitive’ Is a Myth (01:19:15) Is It Possible to Be Too Self-Aware? (01:24:02) The First Step Toward Mastering Emotional Regulation (01:26:58) Where to Find Marc

Sponsors:

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Get the brand new Whoop 5.0 and your first month for free at https://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom

Check our Dr Marc Brackett's book here: https://marcbrackett.com/dealing-with-feeling/

Extra Stuff:

Get Marc's book: https://marcbrackett.com/dealing-with-feeling/

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Fix a Culture of Emasculated Men - Scott Galloway - #1013 Oct 30, 2025

Show notes

Scott Galloway is a professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business, a public speaker, entrepreneur and an author.

Why are so many young men struggling today? In a world that often focuses on the oppression of others, it’s easy to forget that men are part of that story too. What’s actually being done to address men’s challenges, and how can both society and men themselves help turn things around?

Expect to learn why men struggling is actually affecting women too, why the left haven't recognised the problems men face and deal with, what is broken in manhood for the current generation, the 4 variables every man should be solving for, the one stat the keep Scott up at night about the state of young men, what boys lose when men don’t have a father figure, the best kind of risks that build men, what healthy masculinity actually looks like and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) Why are We Inserting Women into Men’s Issues? (15:03) The Quiet Return of Soft Bigotry (25:47) Are Progressives Finally Ready to Talk About Men’s Issues? (33:23) Are Men More Emotionally Fragile Than Women? (44:41) How #MeToo Movement Rewired Male Behaviour Around Women (55:16) Why Male Friendships are So Hard to Build (01:03:23) What is Broken in Modern Manhood? (01:11:56) Why Women Seek a Provider and Protector (01:22:01) How Sex Motivates Men (01:31:06) Kindness is a Man’s Secret Weapon

Sponsors:

See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals

Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom

Get up to $350 off the Pod 5 at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom

Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom

Get $100 off the best bloodwork analysis in America at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom

Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Being Smart Worth the Depression? - Alex O’Connor & Joe Folley - #1012 Oct 27, 2025

Show notes

Alex O’Connor is a YouTuber, writer and a podcaster.

Joe Folley is a philosopher, writer, and host of the Unsolicited Advice YouTube channel.

Philosophy has spent thousands of years trying to teach us how to live well. But the deeper you go, the darker it gets. So what’s the point? What can we take from all that heaviness, and how do we find beauty in the darkness to make our own lives better?

Expect to learn if philosophy always meant to be practically applicable, or if that is that a modern reinterpretation, which ancient schools have been most unfairly ignored, which branches of philosophy should be jettisoned entirely, why everyone hate philosophy of mind, the differences between academic and practical philosophy, the darkest philosophies you’ve probably never heard of, why modern discourse always feel ironic and why no one speaks earnestly any more and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) Can Philosophy Actually Help You Live Better? (6:04) Is Modern Philosophy Trying to Be Too Intellectual? (11:44) What Do Philosophers Often Overlook? (22:35) Why Philosophy Can Feel a Bit Depressing (33:41) Is Life Worth Living? (44:47) Why Context Matters in Understanding Philosophers (54:24) Why is There Growing Interest in Panpsychism? (01:08:40) Is Consciousness Unified? (01:23:59) Emotivism 101: The Morality of Emotion (01:29:03) Is Morality Just Vibes? (01:40:59) Emotivism and the Incest Question (01:49:05) Do Philosophy Influencers Have a Moral Duty?

Sponsors:

See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals

Get Free Travel Packs, Free Liquid Vitamin D, and more from AG1 at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom

Get $100 off the best bloodwork analysis in America at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom

Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom

Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom

Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast

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Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All - Eliezer Yudkowsky - #1011 Oct 25, 2025

Show notes

Eliezer Yudkowsky is an AI researcher, decision theorist, and founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.

Is AI our greatest hope or our final mistake? For all its promise to revolutionize human life, there’s a growing fear that artificial intelligence could end it altogether. How grounded are these fears, how close are we to losing control, and is there still time to change course before it’s too late

Expect to learn the problem with building superhuman AI, why AI would have goals we haven’t programmed into it, if there is such a thing as Ai benevolence, what the actual goals of super-intelligent AI are and how far away it is, if LLMs are actually dangerous and their ability to become a super AI, how god we are at predicting the future of AI, if extinction if possible with the development of AI, and much more…

Timestamps:

(0:00) Superhuman AI Could Kill Us All

(10:25) How AI is Quietly Destroying Marriages

(15:22) AI is an Enemy, Not an Ally

(26:11) The Terrifying Truth About AI Alignment

(31:52) What Does Superintelligence Advancement Look Like?

(45:04) Are LLMs the Architect for Superhuman AI?

(52:18) How Close are We to the Point of No Return?

(01:01:07) Experts Need to be More Concerned

(01:15:01) How Can We Stop Superintelligence Killing Us?

(01:23:53) The Bleak Future of Superhuman AI

(01:31:55) Could Eliezer Be Wrong?

Sponsors:

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Extra Stuff:

Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books

Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom

Episodes You Might Enjoy:

#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠

#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠

#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠

Get In Touch:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast