War reporters risk their lives to document conflict. And yet, after a career living on battlefields, Sebastian Junger's closest brush with death was surviving an aneurysm.

Sebastian's story of his sudden internal hemorrhage and making sense of what he saw while dying is the subject of his new book In My Time of Dying. As someone who usually writes as an outside observer, it's an atypical and personal exploration of death.

I was privileged to speak with Sebastian about the fragility of life and why being necessary to others is one of our highest needs of all.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

To learn more about Sebastian and his work, check out:

sebastianjunger.com

his book, In My Time of Dying

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Starting a company from scratch isn't easy. Doing it multiple times seems downright impossible.

Eric Ryan is one of those serial entrepreneurs. Most known as the co-founder of Method soaps, he's also the founder of Olly vitamins, Welly first aid kits, Cast jewelry, and he has more ventures planned.

I sat down with Eric to ask him about his creative process. What follows is a conversation about serial creativity and why reinvention is the key to repeating creative success.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

To learn more about Eric and his work, check out:

methodproducts.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2005, Neil Strauss published The Game, a book about his years living in the pickup artist community. The Game sold millions of copies, stirred up huge controversy, and made Neil a bestselling author.

Neil has totally reinvented himself since writing The Game, and I wanted to talk with him about walking away from that identity of success. This led to a much deeper conversation about what success even is. Is meaning tied to outcomes, or is intention enough?

Neil and I don't see eye-to-eye on everything in this conversation, but I love talking with him because he challenges my ideas. I hope this episode challenges you as well, to continue questioning what the definition of success should be.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

To learn more about Neil and his work, check out:

neilstrauss.com

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

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