The Importance of Friendship

with Lydia Denworth
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I spent six weeks in March and April of this year in a fairly strict lockdown in Barcelona, and then two weeks in May completely housebound in Germany. COVID-19 has affected every single aspect of my life both for good and bad.

What about you? Were you on lockdown?

If so, who did you call? Who did you turn to (virtually) for help? If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s taught us that humans are social beings through to our core. Even the most introverted types (like me) have felt the longing for group gathering, social interaction, and connection with friends. 

But what is a true friend? And how does that change from your teen years into adulthood, middle age and beyond? From an adaptive perspective, why is it that strong friendships are correlated with longevity and overall healthspan? On this week’s podcast, we’ll explore the importance and science behind deep social connections. 

Listen & Learn: 

• Why you really only need one true friend (but more are great too) 
• How digital and long-distance friends stack up to old-fashioned, in-person connections 
• Why true friendships should be long-lasting, stable, and cooperative 
• How to embrace the natural change of friends at different stages of life
  
  

Links & Resources

• Lydia’s Website
• Lydia on social media 

ABOUT OUR GUEST 

Lydia Denworth is a science journalist and contributing editor for Scientific American. She writes the Brain Waves blog for Psychology and her work is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Healthy Eating While Travelling

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

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The Science of Sin

with Dr. Jack Lewis

The seven deadly sins are: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Religious or not, most of us would like to avoid these behaviors, but modern technology has made the temptation almost irresistible.

How do you not overeat with such brain-triggering processed foods laden with sugar, fat, salt, and flavors? How does a pubescent boy not spend hours a day down a black hole of online porn? And is it any wonder that binge-watching Netflix series has become the norm? 

The moral path has always been a challenging one,but right now, it's nearly-impossible. On this week’s show, we’ll discuss the neuroscience behind these behaviors. 

Listen & Learn: 

• How pornography lights up dopamine centers
• How anonymity online enables wrath and envy at disproportionate levels 
• Why in some cases, the best way to avoid this bad behaviors is through engineered avoidance 
• How to understand your brain chemistry so you can adapt to the modern world

Links & Resources

• Dr Jack Lewis’ Website
• Science of Sin Book

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Neuroscientist, writer, and personality on a mission  to understand the inworkings of the Human Brian. He’s the author of two books, Sort Your Brain Out and The Science of Sin. 

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Sweet Potato vs White Potato

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

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• Leave us a Review on iTunes

The Joy of Movement 
with Kelly McGonigal
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Many of us chase happiness in life but happy states are fleeting anomalies largely out of our control. If you’re experiencing true joy right now, swim and revel in it, but know that soon it will be gone.

Instead of chasing happiness, what if we pursued states of “good” instead. You can feel good and happy at the same time, but you can also feel good while simultaneously feeling anxious, nervous, depressed, or overwhelmed. Unlike happiness, good is a target at which you take aim at and hit very consistently. 

Get a good night's sleep. You’ll feel good. 

Eat the foods you know are right for you. You’ll feel good. 

Sit less, move more, and exercise. You’ll feel good. 

Feeling good doesn't fix all the other challenges in your life, but it always helps. On this week’s podcast, you’ll meet the author of a new book, The Joy of Movement, an exploration into the biochemical, neurological, and emotional health benefits of using your body for what it was designed to do. To move.

Listen & Learn: 

• How movement and exercise release happy chemicals such as endocannabinoids, oxytocin, and endorphin 
• How exercising to music can actually help bring out your physical best
• Group vs. at-home exercise, who wins? 
• COVID-19 tips and tricks to finding your flow
• Why it’s important to reframe exercise as movement, and do whatever you like instead of what you think it “most effective” or “burns the most calories” 

Links & Resources: 

• Kelly’s Book, The Joy of Movement 
• Kelly’s TED Talk

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Kelly McGonigal is a health psychologist, teacher and writer who specializes in the mind-body connection. Many of you will know Kelly from her TED Talk “How to Make Stress Your Friend.” She is the best-selling author of The Willpower Instinct and The Upside of Stress. Her newest book is called, The Joy of Movement, and presents physical exercise as one of the more powerful and predictable antidotes to depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• Quinoa Belly Ache

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

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The Meritocracy Trap: How the Myth Feeds Inequality
with Daniel Markovits

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Every year I live outside the U.S. I’m able to better understand my culture simply due to my physical distance from it. I notice things like promiscuous use of peanut butter and cinnamon in American foods, the endless sports and war metaphors in colloquial language, the ubiquitous nostalgia for the post-World War II family life, and the universal belief that every underdog has a chance to go all the way up. 

Meritocracy.

Study hard, work hard, and show up year-after-year, and you can be just about anything you want to be. In the 1950s, that was somewhat true. Today, the schism between the have and have-nots is so vast that in many cases, no amount of hard work or earned street cred will give you equal access to opportunity.

If you're dealt an unlucky hand, as most people are, your options are limited by gatekeepers you’ll never meet, schools and jobs you’ll never have access to. More perplexing still, if you’re dealt a lucky hand, as I was, and if you play your cards right, you enlist into a lifetime of self-sacrifice, ridiculously long work days, and an almost guaranteed inability to enjoy the so-called privileged life you lead.

Why? Because you’re working all the time.

Meritocracy, like any ideology, sounds amazing on paper, but falls flat in the real world. It’s as mythical as a unicorn. Catch me if you can. On this week’s show, you’ll meet researcher and writer, Daniel Morkovits, who shares his findings on just how broken this meritocratic system is today. 

Listen & Learn:

• How average CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978 while typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that same time
  
  
• How elite education, more than any other factor, acts as the gating factor into the ruling class 
  
  
• How the best universities brag about sub-10% acceptance rates, essentially engineering an elite class
  
  
• How middle-level jobs are getting completely eliminated by technology leaving only the ruling and working classes on either end of the spectrum
  
  
• How the meritocracy myth is not just unfair, but potentially dangerous as it threatens the safety and happiness of both the haves and have-nots. 

Links & Resources

• Meritocracy Trap Book 

ABOUT OUR GUEST
Daniel Markovits holds degrees from Yale, London School of Economics and Oxford. He’s on the faculty at Yale Law School, where he publishes on the philosophical foundations of private law, moral and political philosophy, and behavioural economics. His latest book is, The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite.

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

• White Bread Better Than Whole Wheat

Got Questions?

• Send me a voicemail here: Ask Lucas a Question
• Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com 

Like the Show?

• Leave us a Review on iTunes