Half Life Show
21 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★ - 5 ratingsMake the best of the rest of your life!
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
20: How to become Layoff-Proof
September 10, 2023 21:00 - 12 minutes - 8.97 MBDescription Have you found yourself surprised when you were laid off from your company? Or have that nagging feeling you might lose your job when the economy takes a turn for the worse? In this short episode, Vikram breaks down his 2-year framework for staying prepared, honing your skills, staying sharp and being ever prepared for your next gig or interview. With the proper mindset, you will notice when your job stops providing you value or realize how you can elevate yourself to the best ...
19: Rebooting Your Health - Part 2
August 16, 2023 14:00 - 54 minutes - 37.1 MBDescription In part part of this two-part series on rebooting health, Subbu and Vikram talk about the importance of diet and nutrition for health, and share their methods for keeping calories under check, getting enough protein, foods to absolutely avoid, how to get back on track when our diets fall off the wagon, and how to deal with challenges and temptations that arise regarding foods in our day to day lives. Links Subbu's diet and nutrition spreadsheet Open Food Facts Chapters 00:0...
18: Rebooting Your Health - Part 1
July 19, 2023 13:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBDescription In part one of this two-part series on rebooting health, Vikram and Subu talk about the importance of consistent exercise as we age, describe tools and frameworks that they use to get started on exercise especially strength training, and ways to develop consistency. They talk about workout programs that work, and those that do not, and why, how different programs are suited to different people, and how to design a 21-day workout challenge for yourself. Links BowTiedOx - Your g...
17: Dead in 2000 Weeks
January 28, 2023 15:00 - 40 minutes - 28.2 MBDescription In this episode Subu and Vikram distill down ideas from the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. They discuss better ways to organize your productivity and time, and the importance of not getting distracted and spending your attention wisely. Links Amazon book link Vik’s book notes An interactive book summary 5 ways to create time Chapters 0:00 Introduction 2:24 Productivity 13:45 Time 25:32 Attention 35:10 The Middle Path Let's Get Social Twitter Instagram Youtub...
16: New Year Resolutions Never Work
January 16, 2023 04:00 - 34 minutes - 23.9 MBDescription Inspired by the Cortex Podcast, this episode is about why new year resolutions don’t work and a better approach to setting your intent for the new year. Subu and Vikram reflect on how 2022 was and talk about their yearly theme for 2023. Links Last year’s yearly themes episode Cortex Podcast - Our inspiration for Yearly Themes Alan Watts Lecture on Taoism Wu Wei Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Fitbod App for Resistance Training Chapters 0:00 The Concept of Yearly The...
15: Priyanka Shetty: Art, Music & Theater
November 12, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 58.4 MBIn this episode Subu and Vikram talk to Priyanka Shetty, an actor, director and playwright who left her secure software engineering job to pursue a life of acting and theater performance. Her latest touring play is the Elephant in the Room, which was recently premiered in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and is a solo performance, a one woman show, which is a tale of a search for identity with deeply embedded Indian roots, and finding context and common ground in America. We hear t...
14: Dr. Harish Vedantham: A Journey to the Stars
July 23, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 77.1 MBIn this episode, Subu and Vikram talk to Dr. Harish Vedantham, a radio astronomer and professor at the University of Groningen, about the exciting world of research in exoplanets - or planets in solar systems other than our own, possibility of alien life, building radio telescopes on the moon, the James Webb space telescope and fast radio bursts from the universe. They discuss what it is like to be in an astronomers shoes, places they go, and what the teaching and research life feels like. W...
13: Dr. Sidharth Mohan: Discovering New Drugs
June 26, 2022 11:00 - 2 hours - 85.6 MBDescription In this edition, Dr. Sidharth Mohan, a biophysicist and an expert in protein biochemistry, heavy metal drummer and indie music promoter, talks about the fundamental building blocks of life, the wonders and secrets that Mother Nature won’t reveal to us, and the implications of learning those secrets on the future of humanity. He talks about drug discovery and how the entire scientific community came together as one to develop and deliver Covid-19 vaccines to the world. Subu and ...
12: First Principles Thinking
April 09, 2022 10:00 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBDescription In this episode, Vikram and Subu explain the meaning of first principles, it's meaning in philosophy and science, and explore what it means to break things down into their basic constituent forms, and how that can accelerate learning. Drawing from a variety of examples from cooking, music and invention, they analyze how to think like the experts and how to become one in a field of one's choosing. Links First principles and scientific theories Forty Second Boyd James Clear on...
11: Leveling up your Career
March 11, 2022 09:00 - 55 minutes - 38.5 MBIn this episode, Subu and Vikram discuss what a successful career means, and what it takes to achieve it in various stages of one's career, with examples from Tech CEOs to Navy Admirals. They also discuss important career decisions such as: Should you job hop? How to negotiate salary? Is remote work good for career? Links So good, they can't ignore you - Cal Newport True Learning is done with Agency Admiral Hyman Rickover Doing a Job: The Management Philosophy of Admiral Hyman Rickover Ch...
10: 5 Ways to Create Time
February 25, 2022 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBVikram and Subu explore ways to expand the time available in a persons life as a whole, and discuss the principles of Ikigai and incremental work to discover the purpose of life and avoid burnout. Links Ikigai The Ikigai Diagram The Nothingness of Money by Lawrence Yeo The Clock Man by Shel Silverstein Chapters 00:00 Pastries, Popcorn and Teeth 04:57 Time: The one true resource 11:57 Making Time and Ikigai 17:59 Controlling thoughts about money in your life 23:41 Trading money f...
9: Sampath Krishna: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Adventure
February 11, 2022 18:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBSampath Krishna takes Subu and Vikram on a story-telling trip to the Arctic and back, describing his encounters on the way, and explains what it means to take on a motorcycle ride of massive proportions. Always a traveler, and never a tourist - Sampath talks about the solitude of long rides, the journey into the inner self, and about exploration and discovery - in foreign lands, or within oneself. Chapters 00:00 Intro and Follow-up from The Giving Tree 03:41 Motorcycle ride to the Arctic...
8: Book Club - The Giving Tree
January 21, 2022 09:00 - 27 minutes - 18.9 MBHalf life show's first book club episode! Subu and Vikram go back to the basics and talk about a timeless children's classic - The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and all the lessons we can learn from it at any age. Chapters 00:20 Follow up 04:07 The Story of The Giving Tree 11:18 Unconditional Love and Materialism 17:00 Finding Contentment and Happiness 21:36 The bright side of life 26:18 Outro Links Full Transcript The book The Giving Tree read by Shel Silverstein himself...
7: New Ideas for the New Year
January 07, 2022 09:00 - 52 minutes - 36 MBSubu and Vikram look back at how 2021 went, create new strategies for maximizing 2022, discuss what really grinds their gears and list out the good and bad. Chapters 00:00 Date System Nerd Out 05:31 Positives and Negatives of 2021 10:07 New Ideas for 2022 20:43 A Year of Focus 33:21 Books and Audiobooks 45:16 Podcasts 48:57 TV Shows 51:28 Outro Links Episode Transcript Onepod.fm - Subu’s podcast transcription and search software Audiobooks Pierce Brown - Red Rising Saga Andy We...
Four Light Bulbs
December 17, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBIn this episode, Vikram and Subu discuss work-life balance using the analogy of four light bulbs. Vikram presents a holistic approach to defining the four light bulbs, and Subu describes how managing expectations and priorities within constraints has reduced anxiety and increased health and happiness. Chapters 00:00 Movie Nostalgia 02:25 The Four Light Bulbs Concept 06:48 Subu's four lightbulbs 09:00 Vikram's four lightbulbs 16:30 Calibrating your lightbulbs 23:00 Prioritizing whats impor...
6: Four Light Bulbs
December 17, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBIn this episode, Vikram and Subu discuss work-life balance using the analogy of four light bulbs. Vikram presents a holistic approach to defining the four light bulbs, and Subu describes how managing expectations and priorities within constraints has reduced anxiety and increased health and happiness. Chapters 00:00 Movie Nostalgia 02:25 The Four Light Bulbs Concept 06:48 Subu's four lightbulbs 09:00 Vikram's four lightbulbs 16:30 Calibrating your lightbulbs 23:00 Prioritizing whats impor...
5: Starting Something New
December 03, 2021 14:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBHow do you start a new project and make it successful? Vikram and Subu discuss starting the Half Life Show, and how they navigated challenges as first-time podcasters. They also share their experiences with technical blogging and open source programming, while identifying their past mistakes, finding strategies to beat inertia, and brainstorming ideas to sustain and grow a new project into something successful. Links 1000 True Fans Black Earth - Subu's and Vikram's previous project Subu'...
4: Languages and Lost Stories
November 19, 2021 06:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBEver wondered what language you think in, or why you prefer subtitles in foreign films and anime? From Dostoevsky to Camus, what did we lose in book translations? Do you find yourself using multiple languages in the same sentence and will your children speak all the languages you do? In this episode, Subu and Vikram explore the power of language in the emotions they convey, how we perceive them, and how it connects us to our past and the stories almost forgotten. Links Transcript Chapter...
3: The Future of Education
November 04, 2021 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBShould you be a helicopter parent and what are the signs of a good parent? Children are not playing enough! Are you expecting too much out of your school? Expensive school districts in US, how has COVID affected education? What are the four planes of child development? Effects of early education in children, how teachers shape the future of kids, and modern education in India. In this episode, Vikram and Subu discuss the education choices they face as parents, reflect on their own experie...
2: Getting Lucky
October 22, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 26.9 MBSubu and Vikram discuss the role of luck in science, career and their own lives Links Episode Transcript Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! The accidental discovery of viagra The Unfair Advantage Bounce, Matthew Syed Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:34 Wasabi and Babies 03:33 Did Feynman get Lucky? 08:30 Vikram's own aha moment 11:37 Purposeful Practice and Unfair Advantage 15:10 Getting lucky with Viagra 17:26 Good Friends and Lucky Failures 27:30 Cringey Metaphors 30:00 How Vikram and Subu ...
1: Pilot
October 18, 2021 23:00 - 1 minute - 1.33 MBVikram and Subu are heavy metal musicians disguised as tech nerds who obsess over living life to the fullest while balancing family, career and personal hobbies. In this podcast, they discuss a layman's approach to living a meaningful life, with anecdotes and inspirations from their own experiences. After realizing they spend half their waking lives at work, Subu and Vikram embarked on a quest to find ways to enrich their other half-life - the one they have control over and filled with thing...