Episodes
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
Episode 43- Happiness, Derren Brown, Life & Death (Part 4 of 4)
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
And so we finally reach the end of this podcast odyssey with the longest episode of the 4-part series...
The main topics here are fame (linking neatly to LALO episode 40) and the interestingly similar trajectory it shares with money in terms of how its escalation affects -or doesn't affect- a person's happiness, and then the granddaddy of all topics- death. There’s also some talk about mindfulness meditation here, offering another callback to a previous LALO episode.
Once again Derren Brown turns to some ancient wisdom to illustrate his points in the book, but there are also some fascinating modern takes on fame, death and a few other things. As always your humble host weighs in with his thoughts too, as well as offering a slightly unusual greeting of the season.
It's hard to summarise the many possible takeaways from a 6-hour analysis of a 500-page book, but with my life coach’s hat on I can only strongly suggest a focus on excellence and full attention to tasks, including the tricky one of living itself.
We also need to understand that we are telling ourselves stories all the time, often about events that we have little or no control over and with little evidence to back up our conclusions. Life is hard but can actually be far simpler than we make it if we can limit these stories and try to relax and live with grace and compassion, both for ourselves and for others.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this final episode and have enjoyed the ones before it. If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
See you in 2024!
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Support the show at:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com
If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com or contrafib2001@gmail.com (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)
episode links
Rory Sutherland’s wonderfully entertaining TED talks
https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_perspective_is_everything
https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man
Pure Heaven (story by Antony Rotunno)
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/pure-heaven/
Sam Harris: The Lessons of Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL2uFYi86kk
When I Die; Lessons From The Death Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2eUw0CUuMc
Derren Brown- Unlock The Secret Power of Your Mind!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVblCpr_qAc
Groundhog Day: A Lesson In Happiness (video essay)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT2fqrMjTSQ
The mind-boggling true scale of the universe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7NzjCmUf0
Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g
The Psychology of Amy Winehouse (‘Psychology In Seattle’ podcast)
https://www.spreaker.com/user/10958640/the-psychology-of-amy-winehouse-2015-rer_1
Money: Humanity’s Biggest Illusion
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Episode 42: Happiness, Derren Brown, Life & Death (Part 3 of 4)
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
The next part of this epic journey through Derren Brown’s book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’ and the general topic of happiness takes us further into fate and accepting the downsides of life while finding its way back to some core themes of the book. These include our construction of narratives with little evidence, catastrophising and ‘mind-reading’ (ours, not Derren’s!).
We also look at those old enemies anger, fear & guilt, with a little help from our friends the Stoics, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and others. There’s a lot more along the way and I humble believe you will get a lot out of this if you listen with attention and an open mind and try to digest the occasionally complex but always accessible ideas in the book and the episode.
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support the show at:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com
If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com or contrafib2001@gmail.com (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)
episode links
Quotes about happiness
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/happiness
Types of happiness (online article) https://www.verywellmind.com/happiness-types-4173234
PDF of ‘On Anger’ by Seneca
http://www.sophia-project.org/uploads/1/3/9/5/13955288/seneca_anger.pdf
Derren talks about his book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJrxrJyymG4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3DigsvZCXo
Derren’s TED talk
TED talk- ‘The Paradox of Choice’
https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice?autoplay=true&muted=true
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Episode 41- Life And Life Only profiled on ’Luke’s English podcast’
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Antony appeared on ‘Luke’s English podcast’ in April/May this year to profile Life And Life Only, and here is a compilation of the two episodes, which originally went out on video (see links below).
The topics discussed by Luke and Antony are the podcast itself, Cats, Titanic, Travelling, English Teaching, Life Coaching, David Blaine, Food & Diet, Films, Conspiracy Theories (including the weaponisation of the phrase), Comedy and Happiness.
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support the show at
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
Luke’s website and one of our previous collaborations
https://teacherluke.co.uk/2022/03/16/762-meditation-learning-english-with-antony-rotunno/
If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com or contrafib2001@gmail.com (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)
episode links
The video version of this podcast (2 parts)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OPVuQTGhk&t=293s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V53J0wa41hM
The Frost Report- The Class Sketch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W34CsPPw5uM
TED-Ed guide to cats
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-cats-act-so-weird-tony-buffington
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-history-of-the-world-according-to-cats-eva-maria-geigl
Antony’s ‘Travelling Light’ story
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/travelling-light/
What is Life Coaching?
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/29/what-is-life-coaching/
David Blaine with Joe Rogan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4LraPdm5YI
Morgan Spurlock food experiment (scary!)
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Episode 40- Tennis, Media & Fame
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Inspired by the recent U.S. Open tennis tournament, here’s my take on the grand slam singles finals won by Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic, the G.O.A.T. debate and the sport and its culture in general. From here, we look at two things that are inextricably linked to top-level tennis and sport- media and fame. There’s also discussion of a very important argument put forward in the seminal 1974 tennis/sports psychology book, ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’.
As well as lauding the impressive achievements of these elite athletes, this episode also looks at the dark side of fame and touches on the cautionary tennis tales of Monica Seles, Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu.
I wish them all a happy life, whether they’re winning titles or not!
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support the show at
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com or contrafib2001@gmail.com (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)
episode links
The Inner Game of Tennis summary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-YJePnMrGY
Coco wins and celebrates!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ0XQWWFIAo
US Open on-court interviews (Coco Gauff, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCo3Y6DfrVU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGZq7_s0XGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkgSXzL7Uwk
Coco and Naomi Osaka have a moment…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Al3IA1sbWE
Sloane Stephens humorous truth bombs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCu0tKrzhc
What happened to Emma Raducanu?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnPitPzfjCU
Andy Roddick with Jonathan Ross (funny!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j070zjfq0Uc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi5AWJ8aJ4c
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
Episode 39- Happiness, Derren Brown, Life & Death (Part 2 of 4)
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
We continue our foray into the surprisingly complex world of happiness, with extracts from Derren Brown’s 2016 book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’ to guide us through, along with host Antony’s interjections and musings.
In this part, we look at a wide range of sub-topics including more on the history of happiness, a look at the Stoics and Marcus Aurelius and their influence on Cognitive-Behavioural and Life Coaching, virtue (signalling), desire, fate, judgement, the psychology of relationships and a few other things along the way. Antony also discovers his new favourite phrase- ‘psychological robustness’.
Part 3 will follow next month
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support the show at
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
If you are interested in very affordable Life Coaching, or know someone who might be, you can contact Antony on lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com or contrafib2001@gmail.com (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)
episode links
Podcasts about, or influenced by, the Stoics and Stoicism
https://philosophybites.libsyn.com/william-b-irvine-on-living-stoically
https://dailystoic.com/Podcast/
A podcast deep dive into Marcus Aurelius and ‘Meditations’
Derren Brown talks about his book
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
Episode 38- Happiness, Derren Brown, Life & Death (Part 1 of 4)
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
Happiness seems to be simple to understand, but profound and lasting happiness is actually a complex business, as brilliantly illustrated by Derren Brown in his 2016 book ‘Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine’. Derren’s very readable 500-page tome forms the basis for this series of episodes on the many aspects of happiness, including its history.
After musing on his recent illness and reading some quotes about happiness, Antony reads choice passages from the book and adds his own interjections.
Part 2 will follow next month
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
Feedback to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support the show at
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno
OR
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
episode links
Derren Brown interviewed about the book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJrxrJyymG4
Derren on the Joe Rogan podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFeL7XGwJTs
Quotes about happiness
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/happiness
Types of happiness (online article)
https://www.verywellmind.com/happiness-types-4173234
Alan Watts- Music and Life
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Episode 37- Travelling Light/Pure Heaven
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
This time around, Antony reads two of his short stories, referred to in the title of the episode, and muses on various things, including Chris Ryan and his ‘Tangentially Speaking’ podcast, Thai memories, a surreal Valium-fuelled overnight trip, a wonderful review from a listener, the magic of cats, normies vs truthers and a couple of other things. I don’t always have answers but I’ve got plenty of good questions…
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
To leave feedback or make a donation, please write to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support Antony's work at www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
episode links
The original ‘Travelling Light’ and ‘Pure Heaven’ blog posts
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/travelling-light/
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/pure-heaven/
Chris Ryan's 'Tangentially Speaking' podcast
https://chrisryanphd.com/category/tangentially-speaking/
TED-Ed videos about cats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI8NsYIyQ2A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsj-hDW9bS8
9/11 documentary (warning to normies- this will change your view of the event if you’ve only ever considered any holes in the official story to be baseless ‘conspiracy theories’)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Q5eZhCPuc
Everything Is A Remix (there have been subsequent parts- check the website below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc
https://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/
Echoes vs 2001: A Space Odyssey (get high without drugs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn7MmS3vazU
Money As Debt (there have been sequels as well)
https://watchdocumentaries.com/money-as-debt/
The Money Myth Exploded (very thought-provoking)
https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/social-credit/item/the-money-myth-exploded
TED talk by Yossi Ghinsberg (Amazon survival)
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Episode 36- The Many Sides of David Blaine’s ’Above The Below’
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
Thursday Feb 16, 2023
David Blaine is known around the world and a magician and illusionist. However, he has also had a parallel life doing endurance stunts, apparently for real without illusion (though some believe otherwise).
This episode deals with my personal favourite of these stunts, when he tested the limits of human endurance, both physical and psychological, living in a plexiglass box for 44 days in London in 2003 with only water to sustain him.
One of the ironic things about this stunt is that he was both alone in isolation but was also surrounded by a daily throng of visitors who kept him going as he grew weaker, and kept him entertained as he watched the world go by…
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
To leave feedback, please write to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support Antony's work at www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching)
Antony’s John Lennon podcast
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/
episode links
The original blog post
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/the-many-sides-of-david-blaines-above-the-below/
Previous episodes about meditation (‘Life And Life Only’ and ‘Luke’s English Podcast’)
https://lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com/e/episode-4-the-joys-and-wonders-of-meditation-part-1-of-2/
https://lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com/e/episode-5-the-joys-and-wonders-of-meditation-part-2-of-2/
David Blaine and ‘Moonlight Sonata’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaQ9dDtiNAY
Harmony Korine’s film 'Above The Below’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fCl9cgBgoQ
David Blaine Street Magic/Magic Man (TV specials)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTtaKtUWQ7I
David being mysterious with Eamonn Holmes in 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKVbs7LL8I0
David on the Joe Rogan podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY3Zg37nIHo
David Blaine- ‘How I held my breath for 17 minutes’ (TED talk)
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_blaine_how_i_held_my_breath_for_17_minutes
David with Larry King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdr1Luq3PYY
Derren Brown mathematical memory ‘trick’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAJHUv2JS7w
John Cage’s 4.33 (not too much noise, ok?!)
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
We complete the reading of Antony's longform essay with the dramatic sinking and its aftermath. Ordinary humans of all levels of means and status fight for their lives against the slow, inevitable creep of death, and after the disaster there's equal measures of genuine humanity and ugly scapegoating
The story of R.M.S. Titanic and its unfortunate fate seems to have everything, both good and bad, in terms of how society views itself, its apparently superior relationship to nature and people’s relationships to their fellow man. This is a historical event but it’s also a story full of drama and human interest, and one that has been subject to constant revision in the 110 years since the ship sank.
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
To leave feedback, please write to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support Antony's work at www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com
episode links
The essay in full
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/legends-and-folly-the-remarkable-story-of-r-m-s-titanic
Links to the 2 main books used as sources
2-part documentary series on the disaster ‘Death of A Dream’ and ‘The Legend Lives On’
https://archive.org/details/Titanic_The_Legend_Lives_On_A_And_E_WOC_1994-07-25
The 1958 film ‘A Night To Remember’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ftYho4K3FQ
Robert Ballard talks about the discovery of the Titanic in 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q3eA6wYil4
Titanic wreck footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iVYT_I1gL4
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Episode 34- Legends & Folly: The Remarkable Story of R.M.S. Titanic (Part 1 of 2)
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
The story of R.M.S. Titanic and its unfortunate fate seems to have everything, both good and bad, in terms of how society views itself, its apparently superior relationship to nature and people’s relationships to their fellow man. This is a historical event but it’s also a story full of drama and human interest, and one that has been subject to constant revision in the 110 years since the ship sank.
Antony reads his own longform essay regarding the maiden voyage and sinking of the world's most famous ship, and there are interjections with further observations throughout.
Ordinary humans of all levels of means and status fight for their lives against the slow, inevitable creep of death…
I hope you enjoy the show! If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...
Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75
Twitter- https://twitter.com/lifeonly75
To leave feedback, please write to lifeandlifeonlypod@gmail.com
Support Antony's work at www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno
Antony’s website (blog, music, podcasts, life coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com
episode links
The essay in full
https://www.antonyrotunno.com/2021/07/24/legends-and-folly-the-remarkable-story-of-r-m-s-titanic
Links to the 2 main books used as sources
2-part documentary series on the disaster ‘Death of A Dream’ and ‘The Legend Lives On’
https://archive.org/details/Titanic_The_Legend_Lives_On_A_And_E_WOC_1994-07-25
The 1958 film ‘A Night To Remember’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ftYho4K3FQ
Survivor Testimonies by Charles Lightoller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzG4cjm5mKo
A deleted wireless room scene from ‘Titanic’ (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nlc0YGjl7Y
Frost Report sketch on the 3 classes