Jonah Asks

Episode 65: With Moshe, Part Two (On Attention, Social Media, Happiness and Mental Suffering, the Human Species, Artificial Intelligence, Universal Basic Income and the Future)

Welcome Back to Jonah Asks, Here's part two of my conversation with Moshe. We discuss: attention, social media, happiness and mental suffering, the human species and biology, artificial intelligence, universal basic income and the future.  music: This instrumental piece is an original of mine, based around a piano recording, added effects and then a sampled cello and atmospheric pad loop from samplefocus.com. You can find it on my other podcast, Poems, Guitar and Meditations.https://player.fm/series/poems-guitar-and-meditations/piano-cello-atmospheric-loop-for-sleep ParentingBalancing the desire to give attention and support with the need to step back and observe young children.  6 minAttention and FocusMaintaining attention amidst the wave of information and social media's impact. 10 minMoshe Chooses HappinessMental suffering - Mental suffering was rampant in Moshe's family.  Moshe's aunt was a Holocaust survivor. On her deathbed, her son asked her "Was everything so bad?" She responded, "There were some good things, but we don't talk about that." Happiness seemed unavailable to many who lived through and survived the Holocaust. Moshe has atrial fibrillation. He has to be careful with his heart. Too much stress with atrial fibrillation can lead to stroke.  20 minProgress of the Human SpeciesMoshe is a firm believer in the progress and survival of the human species. "I'm not arguing with the universe. I will argue with reality. My optimism is based on the possibility that the evils of capitalism the way we know it and the development of artificial intelligence and other technologies will force mankind to develop a new paradigm and new understanding of how society should work.  28 minConsidering the Future: 2050 and BeyondWe veer into the future, the impact of artificial intelligence, the possibility of Universal Basic Income, etc. We disagree about how humans will evolve.  37 minTechnology and Techno-UtopianismMoshe sees human progress as an inevitability. Jonah sees human connection as a practice that has been eroding in modern life.  42 minBiology Isn't Bothered By Our Obsession with Technology...or Is It?Moshe believes in biology. Jonah believes in our biological need to make connections.  Resources: New Yorker "Two Supreme Court Cases That Could Break the Internet" https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/two-supreme-court-cases-that-could-break-the-internet Tristan Harris - Center for Humane Tech https://www.humanetech.com/who-we-are

Episode 64: With Moshe, Part One (On Memory, Positive Psychology, Jewish Migration, Israel, Identity and Self-Definition)

Welcome Back to Jonah Asks, Moshe is my neighbor. He is a modern philosopher, with an optimistic outlook, having trained himself in positive psychology. He was born in Israel in 1951 and came to New York City in the early 1970s, before returning to Israel and then eventually landing in the Bay Area.  music: Neil Cowley "Eureka Pulse" 3 minPositive Psychology Moshe discusses his study of positive psychology and choosing his own personal happiness and well-being. "Wanting to be happy is a license that I acquired in my years. There is a methodology for it and I think I got. At this point it works for me and I am good with that. I was a sad Jew." 9 minSpirituality and Identity Going beyond the self. Fighting to define yourself rather than be defined by a given identity. 12 minMoshe's Family History Parents leaving Poland and arriving in Israel during the 1930s. Cold and superstitious places. Pogroms and then the Holocaust. Moshe's father came to Palestine in the mid 1930s, with many Jewish immigrants. Moshe's mother escaped Poland in 1938 via train through Germany, before taking a ship from Trieste to Palestine.  17 minMiddle Eastern history and Moshe's parents. Palestine and the creation of Israel in 1949. 23 minMemory Jonah discusses memory and writing. Moshe has been studying philosophy and psychology. He discusses the biological need to recall negative experiences for survival. 26 min Being Jewish Israeli experience compared with suburban American experiencesMoshe explains how the history of Jewish oppression informs the Israeli pride in Judaism.Jonah's mother's childhood: Secular Jews in suburban DC (late '40s into early '60s) 32 min Pain versus Suffering Moshe discusses Yuval Noah Harari's ideas about pain versus suffering. Pain is contemporary and neurological event. Suffering is spread over time and is often a speculative psychological event. 37 min Moshe wrote to Professor Sapolsky, who studies stress. 39 min Moshe in New York City, 1973 Moshe was released from Israeli military service in 1973 and found his way to New York City. 43 min Moshe Meets His First Wife, Tina Couch-surfing, squatting, and getting by. Figuring out how to live in the United States, with a tourist visa. A wild pack of cats and a smelly small apartment in New York City. 47 min Moshe and Tina move to Somerville, MA then back to Israel then Children From New York to "Slummerville." Tina had to hide the relationship from her strict Jewish mother. Eventually, they moved back to Israel and had children. Later, they moved to the Bay Area, in part to get medical treatment for their son, who had a kidney situation.  53 min Divorce and a New Marriage After 19 years of marriage and two children, Moshe discovers Carla at his child's preschool. "I saw this beautiful woman working with a jackhammer, breaking the asphalt." 61 min Moshe Is Afraid of Helplessness (Like Many of Us) Through much of his life, Moshe has prized self-sufficiency. He understands this as a reaction to his mother's helplessness.  In his later years, he has accepted the deep love of his second wife and attachment. Many thanks to Moshe for the wonderful conversation. Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon. Links: Yuval Harari's TED talks https://www.ted.com/speakers/yuval_noah_harari Positive Psychology TED talks https://positivepsychology.com/positive-psychology-ted-talks/

Episode 63: Jonah Reads: "To Build a Fire" by Jack London

Welcome back to Jonah Asks, In this episode, Jonah Reads. Jack London's "To Build a Fire" (1908).  A classic story of a man and a husky traversing the Yukon in winter. It helps to keep in mind the story was written in 1908.

Episode 61: With Noah Perkins (On Childhood, Grief, Schooling, Parenting, Anxiety, Technology, the NBA and Sandwiches)

Welcome back to Jonah Asks, Noah Perkins is a terrific sports journalist, a dedicated and proud father, a sandwich lover, and a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Like me, Noah loves basketball and is a child of divorce. Unlike me, Noah experienced profound loss at a young age. His dad died in a tragic accident when he was 14 and his mom died years later in a car accident. Like me, Noah moved to California and became a father a few years ago. This is the 2nd time Noah has been on Jonah Asks. To hear the first episode: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/jonahasks/episodes/2021-01-11T12_59_55-08_00 We discuss the following topics: family (divorce, family history)fathers (masculinity, psychology, connection, vulnerability)dealing with griefschooling (personal experience and considering education in general)parenting (connection, anxiety, attachment, identity)anxiety (how anxiety is passed down and how we deal with it as adults)technology (screen life versus real life)NBA (Celtics, Warriors, the schedule)sandwiches (Noah's Top 3)music "The Bottom of It" Fruit Bats https://fruit-bats.bandcamp.com/album/gold-past-life "Reckoner" Radiohead (From the Basement session) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rN9eY2hRc Noah's writing: https://muckrack.com/noah-perkins Noah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoahZZPerkins Opening Holidays We discuss navigating the holidays as a parent. Noah has a 22-month-old daughter and is trying to balance his old self with his new parent self. Noah interviewed Patrick Ewing in May of 2020, beginning of the pandemic. Noah balances journalism work with fatherhood. 8 minutes Noah describes his father's background. His parents divorced when Noah was in Kindergarten. 11 minutes Two Homes and Benefit of the Doubt. Both of Noah's parents died long ago. Jonah's parents are both still alive. We discuss mythologizing and giving people the benefit of the doubt. 18 minutes The death of Noah's dad and the aftermath. How Noah's father grew up - Moving around and abuse in the '50s. Bedford, Massachusetts. After the divorce, Noah's parents had shared custody. He'd spent every other weekend with his dad. When he was 14, Noah's died tragically in an accident. Noah was forced to see the school counselor. The situation wasn't well thought out and Noah was really uncomfortable being required to see the counselor. Noah's brother was away at college. Noah's mom did the best she could do given the situation. 27 minutes Navigating High School and Starting College 36 minutes Schooling: Perseverance and Overcoming Adversity We discuss the complexity of schooling, regarding socialization, motivation and support. 45 minutes Anxiety Growing up with anxiety and trying to parent without anxiety. Anxiety - constant problem solving - leads to creating the problems that don't exist in order to then solve. 55 minutes How We Live - Connection Screen Life versus Real Life - changing behaviors and time spent Noah: "Human connection feels really good. It feels like it's become really hard to come by." 63 minutes Trust We discuss the complexity of building human connection in modern life. 71 minutes NBA Talk. The Celtics, the Warriors and we discuss the much too-long regular season and ways the NBA could shorten it. 78 minutes Noah feels dirty watching football. 80 minutes Noah loves sandwiches. Three of his favorites: Pastrami on rye from a Jewish deli. Banh mi. Grilled cheese with bacon. *** Podcast Recommendation: Story of the Week: Ten Straight Years on Tinder https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/story-of-the-week/10-straight-years-on-tinder Thanks for listening to Jonah Asks.  Share, subscribe and rate as you see fit.  Be Safe and Be Kind, Jonah

Episode 60: With Michael Heald (On Grief, Family History, Hyphenated Names, Anxiety, Mortality and What it Means to Read Books)

Music:Wilco "Jesus, Etc." David Bowie "Changes"Jackie DeShannon "Bette Davis Eyes" original (1974) Q. How are you doing? When was the last time it was acceptable to reply "I'm great!"? We conclude somewhere around the summer of 2016. Pre-Trump, Pre-pandemic. 7 min Michael talks about his early experiences with books 12 min Our last tennis match in San Francisco (Summer, 2007) Michael moves to Nicaragua for a year. 15 min A Drive North from SF to Portland, Oregon (March 2014) 20 min Dealing with Grief Michael's mom died of cancer in 2014 and his dad died of cancer this summer. 25 min The Holidays 36 min Family Games The computer game The Oregon Trail has biblical overtones.  38 min Michael's dad worked as a computer engineer at IBM The family moved from Westchester, New York to Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s. 45 min Hyphenated Names 50 min Depression - Overt Depression versus Covert Depression 54 min Michael's Grandfather Michael describes his father's father. Michael thinks about his dad's upbringing and how it impacted his dad. Michael has letters from the 1970s, written by his grandfather, annotated by his grandmother. 63 min Michael's Dad, near the end of his life. After 14 months and four rounds of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer, Michael's Dad chose the "Death with Dignity" option (Oregon law) that allows a person who is suffering with a terminal illness to end their life. Michael describes the experience of getting the news of his father's choice. 68 min Death with Dignity Michael describes the process of his parents dying and the "Death with Dignity" option for terminally ill people and talks about the end of each of his parents lives. 79 min Life is Fragile 89 min Perfect Day Publishing Michael is publishing the tenth book under Perfect Day Publishing, a small press he started in 2012. The next book to be released is: Staring Contest: Essays about Eyes by Joshua James Amberson https://joshuajamesamberson.com music clip: "Bette Davis Eyes" original by Jackie DeShannon (1974) 95 min Copy-Editing, Publishing Process 98 min What Does Reading Mean Today? We discuss different types of reading and writing and how our culture is changing around reading habits. Podcast recommendation - On Reading and the Brain Ezra Klein with Maryanne Wolf https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-conversation-about-the-reading-mind-is-a-gift/ Maryanne Wolf is a researcher and scholar at U.C.L.A.’s School of Education and Information Studies. Her books “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain” and “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World” explore the relationship between the process of reading and the neuroscience of the brain. In Wolfe’s view, our era of information overload represents a historical inflection point where our ability to read — truly, deeply read, not just scan or scroll — hangs in the balance.