Fandom Science Podcast

I am joined by Dr. Mark Williams - a professor at the University of Utah and author of the book "The Best: How Elite Athletes Are Made". In his book, Dr. Williams outlines a variety of factors that shape elite athletes and influence their development. Some of those influences we discussed on the podcast are: the environment in which athletes are born and develop, unorganized sports and their impact on skill development, early specializations and its advantages/disadvantages, and much more! You can find Dr. Williams' book here: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1529304350?pf_rd_r=DCX639A125BW831CY9JB&pf_rd_p=05326fd5-c43e-4948-99b1-a65b129fdd73&pd_rd_r=240e6b85-a425-4436-85dc-9b41859b042c&pd_rd_w=KTqtD&pd_rd_wg=VWZHo&ref_=pd_gw_unk

Episode #24 - The Best: How Elite Athletes Are Made by Lou Farah

Many of us have experienced “being in the zone”, where we are fully immersed in work and our productivity is maximized. The psychological state is known as “Flow”, and my guest today explains how flow works, what psychological/neurochemical mechanisms drive it, how we can achieve it and sustain it. All that and more with Matt Comand, a high performance coach and a former sport psychology professor.

What kinds of passion are there? Can it potentially be harmful? How can a coach create a passionate environment for their athletes? And how can we find passion in our own daily lives. All that and more with the world’s leading expert on motivational processes, Dr. Robert Vallerand. He is a professor of psychology at the University of Quebec, and the director of the Research Laboratory on Social Behavior. Dr. Vallerand has authored numerous papers and books, including the following: The psychology of passion: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199777608/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_UuYUFbNJAJNRZ Passion for Work: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/passion-for-work-9780190648626?cc=ca&lang=en&# You can find Dr. Vallerand’s website at: https://www.lrcs.uqam.ca/en/home/

I am joined by Dr. Matthew Porteus from Stanford University and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to talk about what gene doping is and how it works, what kind of genes might be desirable for athletes to have, do we currently have the technology to do gene doping, and what challenges/dangers could gene doping have on an athlete’s health. Enjoy! Follow me on Twitter @LouFarah and Instagram @Lou.Farah