338: Ozan Varol | How to Think Like a Rocket Scientist

Is chocolate your guilty pleasure? Until you listen to this episode, we can almost guarantee you're not feeling guilty enough about it! But don't fret, because we'll also provide resources to help alleviate some of that guilt and allow you to become part of the problem's solution! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and fact-checker, comedian, and podcast host David C. Smalley break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: How the production and consumption of chocolate perpetuates a range of negative impacts, including child trafficking, labor exploitation akin to slavery, deforestation, and climate change. The chocolate industry brings in $100 billion annually, but the farmers who produce it make less than $1 a day toiling long hours in the grueling heat, constantly exposed to poisonous pesticides in unsafe conditions. High demand for labor is met by children — some as young as five — who are forced into it either by their desperate families or opportunists who abduct and sell them. How, despite the health benefits of cocoa, there has been a high food safety concern regarding the presence and levels of heavy metals such as nickel, cadmium, chromium, and lead, both in cocoa beans and cocoa products including, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, cocoa powder, and chocolates. How consumers can contribute to positive change by being more mindful of where their chocolate comes from and demanding ethical and sustainable production practices. Vote with your dollars for conscientious producers of chocolate who observe fair trade practices! Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know! Connect with David at his website, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and make sure to check out The David C. Smalley Podcast here or wherever you enjoy listening to fine podcasts! If you like to get out of your house and catch live comedy, keep an eye on David's tour dates here and text David directly at (424) 306-0798 for tickets when he comes to your town! Full...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Feb 202334min

If the people back home choose to believe negative stereotypes about your true love from another land and the nature of your relationship, it's a damn shame — for them. On this Feedback Friday, we'll delve into why it's almost always okay to blow off the cockamamie opinions of people who should probably be minding their own business! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: People in your town are bound to assume a number of negative stereotypes when you bring your true love from abroad home. But is that really your problem? What resources best prepared Jordan and Jen for their first child? What can you do when your sketchy new landlord is pressuring you to avoid his ex-wife (and half-owner of the building) if she comes to introduce herself? You share children with a gaslighting, abusive ex who damaged your confidence and sense of reality, so you still have to deal with him regularly. How do you warn his wonderful current girlfriend before he does the same to her? What support does the Chinese Communist Party have from Chinese citizens who have moved abroad? Will declining birth rates and emigration force regime change before the country's infrastructure collapses? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/788 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Feb 202355min

Mitch Lowe (@mitch__lowe) is a co-founding executive of Netflix, the former CEO of MoviePass, the former president of Redbox, and the author of Watch and Learn: How I Turned Hollywood Upside Down with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass ? Lessons in Disruption. [This is part two of a two-part episode. You can find part one here!] What We Discuss with Mitch Lowe: How Netflix tested, marketed, and made its DVD-by-mail service work at a time when the profit margins were low and its brick-and-mortar competition was high. How Redbox DVD rentals filled a consumer niche between Netflix and Blockbuster — and was so successful that one machine was being installed per hour for every hour of the day, three years in a row! Redbox's loss-prevention and cost-capturing strategies for what were essentially unstaffed video vending machines in operation 24/7. Obstacles Netflix and Redbox faced from business interests entrenched in the status quo (and how they were overcome). Why Mitch once faked a heart attack to get out of a meeting with Walmart executives. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/787 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2 Feb 20231h 4min

Mitch Lowe (@mitch__lowe) is a co-founding executive of Netflix, the former CEO of MoviePass, the former president of Redbox, and the author of Watch and Learn: How I Turned Hollywood Upside Down with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass ? Lessons in Disruption. [This is part one of a two-part episode. Be on the lookout for part two later this week!] What We Discuss with Mitch Lowe: How Mitch's first entrepreneurial adventure involved peddling blacklight posters in Europe at the behest of a shady character by the name of Funky Sam. What Mitch learned from befriending people on both sides of the conflict in Israel while living there in the '70s. How Mitch got deported from Egypt as a spy and accidentally witnessed something he shouldn’t have. How Mitch's terrible investment in a video store led to innovations that would make Netflix — the company he co-founded — wrench domination from entrenched rivals in the video rental industry. Did Mitch really fake a heart attack to get out of a meeting with Walmart executives? And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/786 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

31 Jan 20231h 14min

Your adoptive mom is a narcissistic homophobe whose big concern when you disclosed that you'd been sexually abused by family members was how this would make other people think about her. You've since gone on to become an accomplished writer with friends in high places, but your family has always taken your mother's twisted side over yours and made you feel terrible about yourself. How can you now live with aplomb in spite of your monstrous mom? We'll try to find an answer to this and more here on Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/785 On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: You have a successful career and friends in high places, but how can you live your life with aplomb when you've been raised by a monstrous, narcissistic mom? You're an older grad student who, you've just discovered, comes across as an arrogant know-it-all to your younger peers. Now you worry that you've become so unpopular that the university will ask you to withdraw for failure to mesh with the other students. How can you make this right? You have reservations about fully trusting your fiancé — who's had over 150 sexual partners, and admits to cheating in a previous committed relationship. No stranger to the sting of being cheated on yourself, how can you move forward without feeling haunted by his past? Your new job is in jeopardy because of a recent depressive episode that left you incapacitated for weeks. While you're working with a therapist and psychiatrist to get things under control, how can you explain what's been going on to your new boss? Why are influencers all of a sudden promoting tourism to Saudi Arabia, and how can you sit with the moral dilemma about visiting countries actively committing human rights violations? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi. This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

27 Jan 20231h 5min

Ramy Romany (@ramyromany) is an Emmy Award-winning DGA director and cinematographer, a world-renowned Egyptologist, and the co-author of Conspired: The Evil One Shall Not Live Again. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/784 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Jan 20231h 31min

Apolo Ohno (@ApoloOhno) is a retired American short-track speed skater, an eight-time Olympic medalist, the most decorated American Winter Olympian of all time, and the author of Hard Pivot: Embrace Change. Find Purpose. Show Up Fully. What We Discuss with Apolo Ohno: How Apolo's single dad helped him constructively channel his genetic proclivities toward athleticism and abundance of energy — and overcome his physical shortcomings — from an early age. What drove Apolo's tendency to self-sabotage even as he was becoming the most decorated American Winter Olympian of all time (and what we can do to moderate this mindset in ourselves). The perils of overtraining — and what Apolo would do differently today if he were still competing as an athlete that would serve him better. Understanding the difference between entertaining superstitions and creating reliable routines and habits upon which you can rely when seeking success. The highly transferable lesson Apolo learned when a fluke accident robbed him of a gold medal — and what we can all take away from the disappointment of only landing a silver medal when life doesn't go according to plan. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/783 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

24 Jan 20231h 35min

Now that your mother-in-law is in hospice, you're worried that your unstable brother-in-law — whose uncomfortable attachment to her makes Norman Bates look like John Boy Walton — is set to go literally ballistic against you and your husband (who has been handling her financial affairs) when she finally passes. Should you skip the funeral, or rent a couple of bulletproof vests and hope for the best? We'll try to find an answer to this and more here on Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/781 On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: Should you skip your mother-in-law's funeral to avoid being shot by the unhinged brother-in-law over financial affairs? You're living abroad with a significant other who cheated on you during the long-distance phase of your relationship, and trust is difficult to regain. You're considering moving out, but you're a stranger in a strange land without a support system. What should you do? As part of a hard-working sales team, it was disheartening to discover your manager's been playing favorites and spoon-feeding the best leads to her crush. How can you right this wrong without jeopardizing your own position? How do you best protect yourself, your child, and your niece against a sister struggling with addiction who makes sure none of your good deeds toward her over the years go unpunished? When talking about medical problems and past trauma makes your friends uncomfortable, is it okay to bury your pain rather than trying to sort the mess out? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi. This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Jan 202354min