The Perfect Summary Podcast

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris explains how childhood adversity wires the stress response and how buffering helps adults reset it.

Marc Breedlove explains what finger ratios, older brothers, rams and intersex conditions reveal about the biology of sexual orientation.

David Cross and Joe Rogan revisit the Boston comedy boom, Mr. Show and NewsRadio, then worry about AI, kids online and war.

RZA talks his new film, Shaolin-style discipline, channeling anger into art, cobalt mining, quitting weed and why movies belong in theaters.

Social scientist Kasley Killam explains why adult friendship feels hard, which reasons for cancelling are excuses, and small ways to reconnect.

Norman Ohler on methamphetamine in the Wehrmacht, Hitler's opioid use, the Berlin resistance, and how LSD went from Sandoz to the CIA.

John Hopfield explains associative memory, why feedback and collective behavior matter, and what biology does that AI still ignores.

Comic Mike Vecchione and Joe Rogan on the slow craft of stand-up, lessons from wrestling, boxing fandom, cold plunges and writing jokes.

Filmmaker Alex Garland on truly alien aliens, Ava's smile in Ex Machina, Silicon Valley's veneer of virtue, and a universe without free will.

John Wick director Chad Stahelski explains how the franchise was built, from stunts, dogs and gun work to editing, and what AI may mean for film.

Jitendra Malik explains why vision is hard, why self-driving is far off, and why AI should learn the way children do.

Steven Pressfield on war as a metaphor for the inner fight, where Resistance comes from, serving the muse, and the daily routine of a working writer.

Theo Von and Joe Rogan celebrate the Comedy Mothership and talk routines, SSRIs, vapes, exercise and drug companies.

Lex Fridman maps eight long-term futures for Neuralink, from easing suffering and telepathy to saved memories and merging with AI.

Beckley Foundation founder Amanda Feilding on psychedelics, blood flow and the ego, microdosing for Alzheimer's, and her self-trepanation.

Steven Wright and Joe Rogan on the 1980s Boston comedy scene, how Wright writes jokes, the value of doing nothing, and his novel Harold.

Lisa Feldman Barrett explains why the brain predicts rather than reacts, how emotions are constructed, and why empathy costs energy.

Filmmaker James Reed on 400 days inside the Ngogo chimp community: monkey hunts, silent patrols, alpha politics and a rare split.

Karl Friston explains brain imaging, the free energy principle, Markov blankets, and why moving non-randomly makes you alive.

Johns Hopkins researcher Matthew Johnson on psychedelic safety, psilocybin for quitting smoking, addiction economics, and consciousness.

Former SEAL and thriller author Jack Carr joins Joe Rogan on his new book, failing-up generals, the writers' strike, hunting, and UFOs.

Lex Fridman interviews Joe Rogan on 2020's chaos, his violent competitive streak, ideas as living things, podcasting advice, and love.

MIT computational biologist Manolis Kellis explains how genetics is revealing the hidden circuitry behind obesity, Alzheimer's and more.

Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett on falling in love by text, how brains really evolved, evil, many selves and consciousness.

Mel Robbins explains why waiting for motivation fails and how the 5 Second Rule countdown helped her climb out of rock bottom.

Neuroscientist MD Russell Kennedy tells Mel Robbins anxiety is a childhood alarm stored in the body, and how to heal it neck down.

Hot rod builder Steve Strope tells Joe Rogan about his eye surgeries, building magazine-cover cars in a parking garage, and more.

Cal Newport and Lex Fridman on deep work, time blocking, boredom, quitting social media and replacing email's hyperactive hive mind.

Mel Robbins redefines manifesting as mental rehearsal: name the goal, visualize the hard steps, feel them, then do the work patiently.

Mel Robbins shares her own near-quit and coaches a listener who broke a 300-day sobriety streak, explaining why 'F*** it' moments help you grow.