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Smartest Person in the Room

Laura Tremaine is not the smartest person in the room, but she knows who is.
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Smartest Person in the Room
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 21, 2017

We're talking about the best books we read in 2017! My guest is Yasmin Dunn, a friend and member of my real life book club. We cover all the best novels, self-help, memoirs, and general nonfiction that we read in 2017. 

Read the full show notes here.

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Nov 22, 2017

After 6 episodes, we've concluded our Mind/Body connection series. In this wrap-up episode, host Laura Tremaine and producer/editor Megan Tietz talk through the series as a whole.

We discuss the origins of this series, what stands out to us from concepts and guests, and which episode broke download records (I'll give you one guess).

The wrap-up episodes are for people who enjoy the insider play-by-play. We like to break down what worked and what didn't in a series, and sum up what we learned while making it. 

See all the episodes in the Mind/Body Connection series here

Thanks for listening!

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Nov 17, 2017

Bethany Cole is an only child born to conservative Christian parents who was assigned the gender of male at birth. By the age of five, she realized there was something different about her as compared to her cousins and playmates, but she didn’t how to express how and why she felt so different from other kids.

 

 

 

Read the full show notes for this episode here

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Nov 13, 2017

There is no way to cover the vast topic of Mind/Body connection and not explore the issue of sexuality. We are sexual beings, and yet culture often prevents us from discussing sex in a realistic way. The truth is that sexual gratification enhances many other aspects of our lives, including relationships, mood, and overall health. 

And yet many people live unfulfilled sexual lives because they're afraid to explore what they find pleasurable. That aspect of their mind/body connection languishes out of fear or because of cultural norms. In this episode with sex therapist Dr. Hernando Chavez, we set aside all moral judgements to have a frank discussion about how to identify and ask for sexual pleasure. 

We discuss a number of books in this episode, including:

Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cecelia Jetha
Coping with Erectile Dysfunction by Barry McCarthy
SM 101 by Jay Wiseman
The Erotic Mind by Jack Morin
 
You can read the full show notes here.
 
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Oct 18, 2017

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. And yet this disease is widely misunderstood and vastly under researched. 

But before one is diagnosed with an eating disorder, there are many steps that fall under the umbrella of disordered eating. And as it turns out, a lot of us have a complicated relationship with food. 

In this conversation with registered dietician Nicole Avila, we talk about a person's relationship to food and how we can reach a healthier mindset about hunger.

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Read the full show notes at www.smartestpersonintheroom.com 

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Oct 10, 2017

Mark Zupan is known for a lot of things: his Gold Medal for rugby in the 2008 Paralympics. As the star of the award-winning documentary Murderball. Inspiring a character on the tv show Friday Night Lights. 

But even without all those accolades and extreme experiences, his perspective on the life-altering accident that rendered him paralyzed would be remarkable. 

This is a conversation about what happens when the mind/body connection is severed. Permanently. 

Read the full show notes here

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Sep 26, 2017

What is acupuncture and how does it work?

Most of us have a vague idea of the ancient Chinese practice involving thin needles stuck in your skin all over your body. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat pain, depression, fertility, and to promote general health and wellness. But do you understand how it works? What are those needles actually doing?

Guest Salena Hanrahan is a licensed acupuncturist and she explains the basics of acupuncture and how to find someone credible to work with you on this intense mind/body connection. She also talks about how acupuncture is becoming more popular here in the west, and how it's often prescribed by doctors as part of an overall treatment plan.

Get full show notes here.

This is part of the Mind/Body series. Other episodes include:

Pilates with Kerri Campbell

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Sep 19, 2017

This is the first episode in the Mind/Body series and we're getting personal.

We’re exploring a topic that is relevant to every human on earth: how our minds and our bodies are intrinsically connected, maybe more so than we ever knew. We’re talking about this from an emotional standpoint and a medical one. It’s a subject that’s been getting a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. The truths behind the mind/body connection are changing lives. 

I’m going to start this series with my own life-changing story. In my thirties, after two babies and a lifetime of bad eating habits, I didn’t even know how disconnected I had become from my body until a series of physical and mental ailments sent me looking for answers.

By chance, I landed in a personal Pilates class. What I learned in just my first few sessions put me on a path that has transformed my body and my brain. The teacher behind this transformation: Kerri Campbell, owner of the Pilates Body Shop here in LA. 

Kerri Campbell

Kerri practices Fletcher Pilates, and has been named one of the top 10 Pilates instructors in Los Angeles. In this conversation, we talk about how reconnecting to the body can bring about happiness, how tweaking just the smallest movements can eliminate pain or bring about energy. 

Pilates has taught me a whole new way to live in my body. Kerri explains why and how this practice can work for everyone. 

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Sep 15, 2017

A sneak-peek of Series 4 of Smartest Person in the Room!

Jun 13, 2017

The best books of 2017 (so far) and what is on our summer To Read lists!

In this special edition episode of Smartest Person in the Room, we're breaking from our series format to discuss all things books and reading in 2017. I invited my friend Stephanie Newman-Smith from my Los Angeles book club to sit down with me to share the best things we've read so far and what we can't wait to read next. 

We’re talking novels, non-fiction, light & fluffy, dark & deep. We hope our conversation today will help you discover the best book you haven’t read yet as well as inspire some meaningful book talk with the readers in your life.

For a full list of the many titles we mention, go to the show notes.

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Host Laura Tremaine is on twitter and Instagram.

 

Jun 1, 2017

Jen Glantz is a professional bridesmaid. That’s right, you can hire out the role traditionally held by best friends or sisters or cousins or old roommates.

But this unique career started with a Craigslist ad going mega-viral. After a long wedding season of being a traditional bridesmaid for friends near and far, Jen Glantz threw up a Craigslist ad touting her experience and usefulness wearing taffeta on a wedding day.

Within 24 hours her Craigslist posting had been featured on Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post, and she was fending off offers to be on the morning talk shows. Jen's new career was launched, but she found it to be so much more than a business. 

This is an episode about going VIRAL, but even more than that it's an episode about relationship. Are we outsourcing our friendships to the internet? And can it actually work? 

This conversation will make you think about what it means to share special moments with strangers, and question what is real (and what is not) about online relationships. 

Complete show notes here.

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May 24, 2017

This is the third episode in the VIRAL series.

WARNING: This episode contains adult language and humor.

Stephen Glover is known around the globe as Steve-O, a stunt performer and comedian famous for his provocative and death-defying work on MTV’s Jackass franchise and the Wildboyz television series. He is also recognized for his numerous appearances on the Howard Stern show and his competitive moves on Dancing with the Stars. In recent years, he’s risen to success as a stand up comic, and he is outspoken about his animal activism and his sobriety.
 
I’ve known Steve-O personally for over 15 years, and don’t let his antics fool you, he has always been one of the smartest people in the room. I originally thought that Steve-O would be a good candidate for the VIRAL conversation because his videos and stunts perfectly lend themselves towards going viral and as an individual he has built an online platform with over 11.5 million fans on FB, and nearly 4 million subscribers to his YouTube channels.
 
But instead of talking about the logistics of viral content creation, our conversation almost immediately took a deeper turn, about the quest for validation, being a different persona online than you are off, and the mental struggle to always have to top yourself.
 
This is a personal side to the all-encompassing world of viral.
 
Complete show notes here.
 
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Mar 2, 2017

This is the second episode in the VIRAL series of Smartest Person in the Room.

My conversation is with actor and producer Shane Nickerson, who knows more than a little something about VIRAL content, as he’s spent years creating it through tv shows for MTV, CMT, and Nickelodeon.

Shane is co-president of the production company Super Jacket with Rob Dyrdek, and together they're responsible for shows like Rob & Big, Fantasy Factory, The Dude Perfect Show, Jagger Eaton's Mega Life, and Crashletes.  

Today we delve into the show Shane helped create with Rob Dyrdek: Ridiculousness, which features remarkable short clips culled from the vast sea of the internet. Ridiculousness is so popular that it was responsible for roughly 23% of MTV’s total programming last year. 

Shane has some really thoughtful insights about internet culture and viral content, but he tells a story at the end of this episode I didn't see coming. He shares a personal story of something going terribly viral in his own life, something that had the potential to wreck his marriage and his career. He fought back against this viral thing and WON. My mouth was hanging open as we recorded.

Complete show notes here.

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Feb 21, 2017

This is the VIRAL series, and we’re looking closely at something that permeates most of our internet culture: viral content. Videos, memes, tweets, graphics, these can take over our online experience and change our minds, culture, elections, or just make us collectively laugh. Things that go viral on the internet can have real power. 

Growing up in around the entertainment industry in Southern California and attending NYU Film School still didn't prepare Morgan Shanahan for the success she would find as a content creator. She wrote screenplays and commercials for years before turning to a more personal outlet. Her blog The 818 was a vulnerable look at marriage, motherhood, and mental health and drew her a large following. 

Morgan's platform and talent opened an opportunity at the media behemoth Buzzfeed, where she's been the parenting editor and now parenting video producer for several years. The creative content she's making at Buzzfeed get tens of millions of views.

In our conversation around the topic of VIRAL, Morgan and I discuss what it takes for something to get shared over and over, the types of content that work best, and what it means for the creator and for society. 

Whether you're totally internet savvy or completely non-techy, this episode will be more relevant to your life than you may think.

Read the full show notes here.

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Feb 17, 2017

A sneak-peek of Series 3 of Smartest Person in the Room!

Feb 14, 2017
Host Laura Tremaine and producer/editor Megan Tietz break down the six episodes of the RELIGION series. They talk download statistics, listener reaction, and the surprising things that came out of making this series. 
 
The six episodes of the RELIGION series are:
 
Ep. 10: The Mormon/Evangelical Divide
 
Ep. 11: Judaism as a cultural identity
 
Ep. 12: The Political Conversion to Islam
 
Ep. 13: Religion Reporting in the Time of Trump
 
Ep. 14: The Mystery of Hinduism
 
Ep. 15: When God Goes Silent
 
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Feb 7, 2017

We're closing out the religion series by talking about LOSING your faith. 

In the last five episodes, we’ve talked about growing up in a faith tradition and converting to a religion out of deep conviction. But what about when it all falls apart? What happens when you no longer believe the very thing you’ve built your life around?
 
My guest is Mike McHargue, who you might better know as “Science Mike,” the host of the Ask Science Mike podcast and the co-host of The Liturgists. He’s written a book about the two years he spent secretly an atheist, and Finding God in the Waves is the kind of faith story you don’t hear (truthfully) much about.
 
I finished his book in one day and couldn’t wait to get him on the show to talk about his experience. Don't let the title of this show fool you, Mike creates space and hope for others with doubts along their spiritual journey. (And isn’t that all thinking adults at some point?)
 
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Jan 31, 2017

This is the 5th episode in the RELIGION series. 

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, with over 1 billion followers, about 15% of the global population. It is often called the world’s oldest religion, but without a savior, governing body, or binding holy book, it can be difficult to grasp exactly what Hindus believe. Many of the traditions and rituals passed down through the generations are family-specific or regional, but all fall under the umbrella of what Hindus call “the way of life.”   
 
Indian guests Vijay and Divya patiently explain the four Purusarthas - or 4 tenets - of Hinduism: Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. We also discuss their arranged marriage, the rituals of their daily practice, and the Indian ideas that have become popular in the western world, including yoga and meditation. 
 
I've carried the wisdom of this conversation around since we recorded. Being Hindu is a vast topic, but interesting both historically and currently. You will be finish this episode refreshed by this couple's warmth and grace. 
 
Full show notes are here.
 
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