The Smallest School In The World
It wasn’t much of a classroom. A cramped room, with four seats. I was the only student there, but my teachers we amazing. They were the heads of businesses, writers, scientists, military officers, many of whom were famous — they came to me whenever I chose. I had never learned so much. I had roughly an hour each day and what seemed like a never-ending array of subjects and interesting topics to choose from.
I’m not famous or rich, I’d never done much to gain notoriety. But these teachers came to me at my beck and call. I just hooked my phone to blue tooth in my car and the lessons began. Before I started this little journey, the radio in my car was just a tool to play music. I never thought of it as anything else. I remember hearing somebody tell me once that they listened to books on tape in their car. The immediate thought that came into my head was, TOTAL WEIRDO. Now, I barely listened to the radio or play music in my car, I’ve turned into that TOTAL WEIRDO.
Well, I still don’t listen to books in my car (yet). But, I have become a podcast addict. My addiction stretches to many of these internet radio shows — different genres and styles are all played in my tiny school. While others curse and glare at the stalled traffic in front of them, I smile and learn. It doesn’t matter if the cars in front of me don’t move, I have something else I’m focused on. My teachers also don’t mind either, they continue on regardless of the beeping horns or foul words shouted by drivers around me.
My Teachers
Professor Jordan Harbinger
Jordan studied law at Michigan and eventually got a job on Wall Street. He found himself unhappy with his job and realized something while he looked at his co-workers. He generally became successful by outworking those around him during the course of his life. He’d never be able to work harder then his co-workers on Wall Street — they were machines.
Jordan noticed a supervisor at work who was very successful. The guy was never in the office though. He was always out on the town or golfing. One day Jordan asked the supervisor how he was able to climb so high in the company despite never being at work. The supervisor told Jordan that he was more valuable when he wasn’t in work. He brought in so much money to the company by socializing with clients that he was more valuable out of the office and on a golf course. At that moment Jordan realized the value of networking and began studying how to do it. Eventually, he got laid off from this company and turned his podcasting side gig into a full-time job.
Jordan’s podcast is a learning extravaganza and he has a wide array of guests. He generally focuses on self-improvement skills and networking, but his guests are wide-ranging. He’s interviewed CIA & FBI agents, generals, CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and various other successful individuals. Generally, all his guests have a lesson or lessons to teach you and Jordan posts a study guide online to help you practice what you’ve learned.
This is usually my go-to podcast of choice. Jordan releases generally 3 or 4 episodes a week and has excellent guests. He also actually reads his guest’s books before he interviews them, unlike most other talk show hosts. Jordan has incredible networking skills and generally has very interesting guests on his show. I’d highly recommend his two-part interview with Charles Ryu. Charles managed to escape from North Korea, twice. I’d also highly recommend his interview, James Fallon. James studies psychopaths and inadvertently discovered in a brain scan that he is one.
Professor Rob Reid
Rob Reid is an author and entrepreneur. He was a founder of Listen.com, which produced Rhapsody — the first legal online music streaming site in existence. Rob’s passion is science and technology. In his podcast After-On, he conducts long-form interviews with his guests. His guests tend to be brilliant innovators on the edge of science and technology. These guests give you a look into the window of the future in every episode.
Rob also does a good deal of work with the Ted organization (Ted Talks) and has a number of their speakers on his program. Rob also immerses himself in the field of study the guest concentrates themselves in. It’s not unrealistic for Rob to spend over twenty hours preparing for an interview. You generally find yourself amazed by the future image of the world the guests provide. The truly amazing thing is that the future is happening now. All of Rob’s interviews are excellent. But I’d highly recommend the one with Stewart Brand. The 10,000-year clock is fascinating, I even wrote my own Medium article about it.
Professor Dan Carlin
“I’ve been comparing this period to an historical estuary, where one generation and another generation sort of mingle…the Old World and the New World. But maybe it’s more of a wormhole through time, and when this 19th Century group of people transitions through to the 20th century it’s not going to make it intact. It’s going to suffer damage on the way through. It’s like a birthing process to the modern era, and that can be bloody and painful and potentially fatal too.”
— Dan Carlin Blueprint for Armageddon IV
Dan Carlin is not a historian. Dan will mention this over and over in his podcast. But it would be difficult for you not to call him a historian if you listened to his Hardcore History podcast. Dan will take a topic from history and stretch it out in a long form explanation in stunning detail. When Dan does a podcast on a topic, he’ll post the books he read before he records the podcast. It’s not surprising to see a set of 8 to 15 books listed. Your history classes in high school or college may have bored you, but Dan is never boring.
Dan may discuss events from the past, but he frequently steps out of the story to make you think about what’s happening. He gives his own analysis of the event he’s describing instead of just telling you about it. For instance in his telling the story of Julius Cesar’s invasion of Gaul, Carlin describes many events from the Gaulic tribe’s point of view. During the series Dan did on WWI, Dan read letters from soldiers on the front. Instead of just talking about battles and troop movements, Dan puts you on the ground with the soldiers — in their misery.
Just about everything Dan releases is good, but I’d highly recommend his Wrath Of The Khans series. I didn’t know much about the Mongols before I listened to this — they came extremely close to conquering the world. They only failed to conquer Europe and the Middle East by bizarre luck. A warning though, this series is long and he charges for the download. If you want something for free. I’d recommend his Blue Print For Armageddon series. It puts the black and white world of WWI in color. He puts you in the trenches with the soldiers and behind the maps with generals. He truly shows you how horrific this war was and in many ways how odd. There’s a picture on his website of a German soldier on a horse with a lance, wearing a gas mask. It looks like something out of a Mad Max movie, but this odd clustering of weapons and equipment happened.
Professor Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson is a really interesting character. His name can simultaneously cause rage to erupt in some and admiration in others. I don’t focus on that though, I just know he’s an extraordinary teacher and deep thinker. If I was to describe him, I’d have to use a metaphor of your father. I’d say this because he spends a lot of his time giving answers you’d expect to hear from a father-like figure. Except when most people asked their father about something, they may get the curt “because I said so” line as an answer. Some dads may give a brief explanation to a question that is asked.
If Jordan Peterson was your father, he’d start his explanation with a recurring theme in the Bible, which forms an archetype for all humanity. Then he’d tell you this archetype can further be seen in various Disney movies throughout the past 60 years. He’d further extrapolate how the brain chemicals in a human being and a lobster are very alike, so the psychology of the question you’re asking has existed before humans walked the Earth. At the end of his thinking process, an answer would come — a ridiculously well thought out answer.
As I said, he’s a very interesting character. Despite the complex explanations, a good deal of the advice he gives are simple things to answer life’s questions. Oddly, it almost seems like these simple answers have been lost or forgotten — people seem to have become lost as well. For many Jordan has become a beacon of sorts who points to an easier and clearer life.
His podcast is also an interesting listen. He interviews many authors and members of the intellectual dark web (IDW). The IDW is a collection of intellectuals who primarily believe in free speech. Many are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but they gather together to speak and exchange ideas about various things. If you do tune into his podcast, prepare for lots of deep thoughts on various issues.
Professor Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan has one of the most downloaded podcasts on the internet today. I guess a good way to describe him would be a mixture of a Johnny Carson type variety show host, a foul-mouthed sailor, and an MMA fighter. He’s another one who takes advantage of the podcast format to do long form interviews with his guests. It’s never a quick answer and question session then goodbye. If Joe does an interview, he does an in depth interview over the course of about an hour and a half.
Joe’s career as a stand up comedian, TV show host, and sports announcer gives him a unique background. He seems to have this talent for making his guests seem very at home at his studio. This makes for interviews that are hard to turn off, even when you’re sitting at the parking lot at work. It may seem like an hour and a half with a guest may be too much, but the show never drags with Joe at the helm.
Joe also seems to be able to book incredible guests that anybody would give their right arm to speak to. For instance, he recently managed to book Elon Musk for a whole show. He actually got Elon to sit down for nearly two hours and just chat. I’m sure there are a ton of network TV show hosts who would have sold their first born to get that interview. For other reasons I’ll leave you to discover, this interview actually gained headlines around the world.
I’d also recommend the interview Joe did with Diamond Dallas Page. Mr. Page is a former professional wrestler who healed blown out disks in his back with his own form of yoga. He has also helped a number of people heal themselves mentally and physically with his exercise program.
Conclusion
In my small little classroom I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve never had to pay any kind of tuition for all of this knowledge as well. I’ve been lucky enough to take in this knowledge on my own time. I’ve also been given access to a set of unbelievable teachers that even the most wealthy in the world couldn’t assemble in one room. I’ve learned entrepreneurship, personal development, history, science and technology, networking, and social skills. What’s more, all of this knowledge is available to you as well. If you have some free time in your schedule and want to learn, these teachers I’ve listed are always looking for students. Feel free to click on these links I posted and begin your free education.
Thank you for reading my ramblings. If this story makes you happy and you know it, clap your hands.
