Running is a gloriously democratic and accessible sport. All you need is a pair of shoes and the will to start moving your legs. It's so seemingly simple, that you may never think to figure out how you might get better at it — you just follow what your peers may be doing (who may not know anything more than you do), or pick up tips that percolate through social media (which may not be accurate), or 100% wing it, just vaguely trying to get a little faster each time you run.

My guest says that, rather than taking a willy-nilly approach to your recreational running, you can greatly improve your performance by learning from the professionals who actually run for a living.

His name is Matt Fitzgerald and he's a sports writer, a running coach, and the co-author of Run Like a Pro (Even If You're Slow): Elite Tools and Tips for Runners at Every Level. Today on the show Matt translates the best practices of elite runners into tactics the amateur can incorporate into their training, beginning with why you need to follow a well-programmed running plan, how to find the sweet spot for your running volume — including why you actually should concentrate more on the amount of time you run rather than the miles — and the number of hours Matt recommends trying to work up to running each week if you'd like to really see what you can do as a runner. We then discuss the ratio of low intensity to high intensity workouts you should be doing, the surprisingly small emphasis pros put on running form, what the pros know about what works best for recovery, and the edge you can get through cross-training. We end our conversation with the difference in mindset that marks elite runners, including how they're probably better quitters than you are.

#787: Run Like a Pro Even If You're Slow

Japan’s prime minister from 2006-07 and 2012-20 <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/07/08/the-shooting-of-abe-shinzo-a-former-prime-minister-stuns-japan?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">died</a> after being shot at a campaign event. Our Tokyo bureau chief analyses the implications for the country and its politics. The <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/06/30/a-resurgence-of-regional-rivalries-imperils-eastern-congo?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resurgence</a> of a particularly well-armed militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatens to reignite deadly regional tensions. And we introduce you to the <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/06/30/which-vegetable-is-the-easiest-for-a-robot-to-pick?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">robots</a> that may soon pick your vegetables.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> &#10;&nbsp; <hr>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

Tragedy in Japan: the killing of Abe Shinzo

A lot of people feel like they’ve seen and done everything there is to see and do in their local area. They’re bored of their daily routine, and contemplate going off on some grand adventure in a exotic locale.

My guest would say that you don’t actually have to wait until your next big trip nor go far afield to mix things up, and that adventure can be found right where you are, in your ordinary routines, the everyday landscape of your life, and even DIY projects, if you decide to approach them in a different way.

His name is Beau Miles and he’s an Australian filmmaker who documents his own small-scale adventures on YouTube, as well as the author of The Backyard Adventurer. Today on the show, Beau shares his experiments in proving anything can be infused with the challenge, intrigue, and fun which mark adventure, if you add in some intentional risk, difficulty, and simple what-the-heck quirkiness. He tells us about some of the close-to-home adventures he’s executed, including walking and kayaking his 90-kilometer commute to work, reconnecting an old, long closed-down rail line by running its often hidden, overgrown path with a shovel in his hand, and making a paddle with scavenged wood. We then talk about how he created a gastronomical adventure for himself by eating his body weight in beans, and even turned tackling his to-do list into an adventure by pairing the crossing off of its entries with running a marathon in 24 hours. Along the way, Beau shares how backyard adventures help you better get to know your local area, how he deals with the police who sometimes check in on what he’s up to, and how the next time you get some odd idea, you ought to just go for it, mate.

#789: Become a Backyard Adventurer

Do you ever feel like the time we live in feels flat, complacent, timid, conformist, populated by people who are focused on playing it safe and are inwardly empty?

A century and a half ago, the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard felt the same way about the period in which he lived, and posited that there are two kinds of ages: the revolutionary, decisive, and passionate, and the sensible, rational, and reflective.

Here to unpack Kierkegaard’s ideas on these two kinds of ages is Jacob Howland, retired professor of philosophy and author of Kierkegaard and Socrates. Today on the show, Jacob and I first discuss some background on Kierkegaard and his existential philosophy. We then get into the differences between an age of passion and an age of reflection. We discuss how in a passionate age, an individual stands as an individual, possesses an energy which focuses on truth and ideals, and has the courage to take bold leaps of faith, while in a reflective age, the individual is subsumed by the crowd, is afraid of public opinion, and gets so lost in analysis and abstraction that he never makes a decisive move. All along the way, we delve into how Kierkegaard’s description of his age parallels our own, and Kierkegaard’s evergreen call to be an individual, embrace risk, and own your opinions and actions.

Kierkegaard on the Present (Passionless) Age

Why do corrupt people end up in power?

By way of an answer, you probably think of that famous quote from Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." But my guest today, Brian Klaas, would say that's only one part of what leads to corrupt individuals and cultures, the other being that people who are already corrupt are more likely to seek power in the first place. Brian argues that if we ever hope to develop better systems, from our national governments to our office hierarchies, we have to work on both prongs of this dynamic, not only preventing people who gain power from going bad, but encouraging good people to seek power as well.

Brian is the author of Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, and today on the show, he and I discuss how people who possess the so-called "dark triad" of traits are more attracted to positions of power, how the framing around those positions can either amplify or alter this self-selection effect, and what a tyrannical homeowners' association president and a psychopathic school janitor show us about these dynamics. We also discuss why power does indeed corrupt people and can in fact change their very brain chemistry. Brian explains the importance of accountability in keeping a system clean, and how you can serve in positions of power without becoming corrupted yourself.

#792: How Power Corrupts

<ul> 
<li>Apple is just three weeks away from showing off the iPhone 14.</li> 
<li>Apple workers launch petition over company's reported return-to-office plan.</li> 
<li>Apple's new iPad multitasking system doesn't cut it</li> 
<li>Apple releases iOS, iPadOS and macOS security fixes for two zero-days under active attack.</li> 
<li>Tim Cook, Jony Ive, and Laurene Powell Jobs to speak at Code 2022 conference next month.</li> 
<li>iOS VPNs have leaked traffic for years, researcher claims.</li> 
<li>M2 MacBook Air runs Windows 11 faster than pricier Dell laptop.</li> 
<li>Former Apple engineer accused of stealing automotive trade secrets pleads guilty.</li> 
<li>John Foster: In memoriam.</li> 
<li>10 million watched 'House of Dragon,' HBO says.</li> 
<li>Apple fails in bid for Big Ten Conference streaming package.</li> 
<li>Apple brings Self-Service Repair to the Mac.</li> 
<li>Jason found a funny bug in macOS beta.</li></ul> 
Picks of the Week<ul> 
<li>Alex's Pick: Stellar X2</li> 
<li>Andy's Pick: Anker Nano II 65W GaN Charger</li> 
<li>Jason's Pick: One Thing &amp; Shortery</li></ul> 
Hosts: <a href="https://twit.tv/people/leo-laporte">Leo Laporte</a>, <a href="https://twit.tv/people/alex-lindsay">Alex Lindsay</a>, <a href="https://twit.tv/people/andy-ihnatko">Andy Ihnatko</a>, and <a href="https://twit.tv/people/jason-snell">Jason Snell</a> 
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MacBreak Weekly 832: A Fine Patina

What does financial freedom mean to you?

The Wise Investor is an inspiring parable about building what author Rich Fettke calls Real Wealth, the foundation of financial freedom. It tells the story of Ryan Brooks, a husband, father, and CaptivSoft’s hard-working lead coder who, with the help of a new friend and mentor, finds a different path to financial security for himself and his family and becomes wealthy in more ways than he thought possible. In it you’ll learn: 

• Why working endless hours to climb the corporate ladder in search of "enough" may never give you the financial security you want.

• The true cost of a life lived on someone else’s terms—your time—which no amount of money can ever buy back.

• How to shift the limiting beliefs that might be keeping you stuck and blind to what’s possible for your finances and your life.

• An actionable,  play-by-play guide to transforming your financial situation by taking charge of your habits so you can live your best life now, not in some far-off future.

Whether you seek an investment path that allows you to overcome the fear and overwhelm or are struggling just to start, the advice and wisdom in this book will help you get on track to financial freedom. If you’ve ever sought  to build wealth, secure your financial future, and live a life that aligns with your values and dreams sooner rather than later, this heartwarming story about one family’s financial transformation will help shine the way. 

Are you on the right path to financial freedom?

In Rich's words: "In writing The Wise Investor, I dedicated myself to creating a story that would inspire and educate — and help you believe that you can live life on your own terms. Real wealth is having the money and the freedom to do what you want, when you want, with the people you want to be with. Each of us has the power to secure financial freedom by believing in what is possible in our lives and taking action to achieve it. If you agree… your transformation has already started."

Available August 30, 2022 from Hachette Audio as a digital download from Hachette Original. 

Download: 
https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-wise-investor/id1622045831
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781668618165-the-wise-investor
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-wise-investor-3
https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/wise-investor-a-modern-parable-about-creating-financial-freedom-and-living-your-best-life/589881
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https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Rich_Fettke_The_Wise_Investor?id=AQAAAED8U2ATjM
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wise-investor-rich-fettke/1141361456?ean=2940175585750
https://www.estories.com/audiobook/594460/Rich-Fettke_Robert-T-Kiyosaki/The-Wise-Investor

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The Wise Investor by Rich Fettke Foreword by Robert Kiyosaki Read by Author - Audiobook Excerpt

In the quiet moments of our lives, we can all sense that our hearts long for something, though we often don’t know what that something is. We seek an answer in our phones, and while they can provide some sense of extension and fulfillment — a feeling of magic — the use of technology also comes with significant costs in individual development and interpersonal connection that we typically don’t fully understand and consider.

My guest today will unpack what it is we really yearn for, how technology, when misused, can direct us away from the path to fulfilling those yearnings, and how we can find true human flourishing in a world in which so much works against it. His name is Andy Crouch and he’s the author of The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. Today on the show we talk about the tradeoffs you make when you seek magic without mastery, and how we can understand our desires better once we understand ourselves as heart, soul, mind, and strength complexes who want to be loved and known. We discuss the difference between interactions that are personal versus personalized, as well as the difference between devices and instruments, and how to use your phone as the latter instead of the former. We end our conversation with why Andy thinks we need to redesign the architecture of our relational lives and create something he calls “households.”

#796: The Life We’re Looking For

The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.

When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The cocreator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie’s true identity.

Robin decides that the agency can’t help with this—and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart.

Robin and her business partner, Cormoran Strike, become drawn into the quest to uncover Anomie’s true identity. But with a complex web of online aliases, business interests and family conflicts to navigate, Strike and Robin find themselves embroiled in a case that stretches their powers of deduction to the limits – and which threatens them in new and horrifying ways . . .

A gripping, fiendishly clever mystery, The Ink Black Heart is a true tour-de-force.

Available August 30, 2022 from Hachette Audio as a digital download, and in Print and Ebook from Mulholland Books. 

Download: 
https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-ink-black-heart/id1605627190
https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781668600832-the-ink-black-heart
https://www.downpour.com/the-ink-black-heart
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https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Robert_Galbraith_The_Ink_Black_Heart?id=AQAAAECCXAwcnM
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ink-black-heart-robert-galbraith/1140894462?ean=2940178568392
https://www.estories.com/audiobook/560498/Robert-Galbraith/The-Ink-Black-Heart

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The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith Read by Robert Glenister - Audiobook Excerpt

A lot of people really dislike conflict and have a low opinion of it. They're uncomfortable with disagreements at the office, think there's no room for contention at church, worry that fighting with their partner means their relationship is destined to dissolve, and generally feel that heated arguments tear communities apart.

My guest today, Ian Leslie, used to be one of these conflict-averse people. But as he discovered in researching his new book, Conflicted: How Productive Disagreements Lead to Better Outcomes, conflict not only brings us together, the lack of it, he says, just plain makes us stupider. Today on the show, Ian and I discuss why people get the idea that conflict is unproductive from watching online arguments and why these flame wars aren't actually indicative of the value of arguing offline. We then delve into this surprising value, from the way conflict makes us smarter, to how couples who have heated arguments are actually happier. Ian unpacks some of the myths around difficult conversations, such as the idea that they have to be done in a strictly rational and unemotional way to be fruitful, and he offers ways to approach conflict that will make it more productive, especially remembering to always prioritize the relationship above all.

Resources Related to the Podcast

AoM Article: The Rationality of Emotions
AoM Podcast #559: How to Handle Difficult Conversations
Podcast #648: Lessons in Building Rapport from Experts in Terrorist Interrogation (With Laurence Alison)
reddit — Change My View

Connect with Kevin Maurer

Ian's Website
Ian on Twitter

#799: Getting Along Is Overrated

In the 19th century, the source of the Nile River remained one of the greatest mysteries of geographic exploration. The story of how the British eventually found it is one of adventure, danger, and bravery, but also arrogance, envy, and resentment.

Here to offer some snapshots from this dramatic expedition is Candice Millard, author of River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. Today on the show, Candice shares how two men who were very much opposites, Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke, ventured together on two years-long expeditions to locate the source of the longest and most legendary river in the world, the harrowing obstacles they faced in their quest, and how their partnership devolved into a bitter rivalry. Along the way, we discuss what made Burton such a compelling character, why we remember his name but not Speke's, and the African guide who was the unheralded hero in the achievements of both men.

Kierkegaard on the Present (Passionless) Age

The Art of Manliness

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