Mere Mortals Conversations

Juan's going to teach us about robots and stuff, beep boop.

In this Episode #526 of 'Meanderings', we discuss: when robots might actually arrive in everyday life, the difference between software progress in AI and the much tougher challenge of getting machines to move reliably in the physical world, why humanoid robots are so compelling yet so difficult, how the earliest large-scale robotics wins will likely happen in high-value/dangerous/efficiency-driven industries, thoughts on autonomous vehicles/robotic lawn mowing/nanobots/giant industrial machines and the economics that determine whether a robot is genuinely useful or just expensive theatre.
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At some point, doing harder things stops being growth.

The more important question becomes: Is your ambition creating more life, or slowly consuming the life it was supposed to improve?

In this Mere Mortals philosophy episode, I work through 17 personal lessons from the first part of 2026. These ideas have come from documenting my daily life as a husband, father of two young daughters, athlete, engineer, podcaster, business owner and someone still trying to understand how all those identities fit together.

00:00 Introduction
02:13 Life is a system
05:57 Stop proving you can do hard...

How do celebrations differ in their rituals, level of fun & meaning?

In Episode #525 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: where celebration can start to feel more like obligation, a run of weddings for close friends, the difference between meaningful commemoration and going through the motions, what makes effort feel worthwhile and the idea that the most memorable celebrations tend to be less complex and more intense.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:54) Wedding rituals, obligation and finding meaning
(00:04:42) Marathon medals and commemorating effort
(00:09:03) How much do you really celebrate...

Are we buying Bitcoin to compensate for our fragile masculinities?

In Episode #524 of 'Meanderings', Juan and I discuss: are young men drawn to Bitcoin and crypto because of masculinity, how easy it is for commentators to analyse online language to cherry-pick the loudest voices and build a sweeping narrative from that, our personal journey with Bitcoin and why we still find it compelling today, whether Bitcoin’s future is as a widely used currency and what actually gives something value.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:07) Bitcoin Bros and the ma...

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this...

After a year of gambling I am none the wiser of understanding probabilities.

In Episode #523 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: probabilities/gambling/arbitrage, how my brother first found ways to exploit betting promotions, using sports betting apps in conjunction with Polymarket, how markets set probabilities, whether AI will become genuinely better than humans at predicting future outcomes, complexity making exact prediction almost impossible and the future of livestreaming and personal data.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:33) How betting promotions can tilt the odds
(00:05:52) Getting gubbed and the limits...

The main question I have received is .... why do it in the first place?
 
In Episode #522 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the behind the scenes of our first official marathon, why “finishing” can be its own kind of win, the three layers of marathoners you meet on race day, solo marathon attempts compared to the buzz of an organised event, tips (racing lines, shade-hunting, aid stations), where the wheels came off (cramps and blistered feet), reflect on why we choose hard things, what it would actually take for us to go sub‑4 and why halves and 10ks might be our...

After a mini break we're back and tired as hell.

In Episode #521 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: being very busy versus truly tired, how priorities shift as life gets more complex and why sometimes the smartest move is pruning commitments instead of optimising them, reminisce on the “end of an era”—pinpointing a final carefree night with friends before marriages, kids and tighter schedules reshaped everything & maxing out your skills to learn what truly fits.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline: 
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:32) Today’s loose topics: busy, tired, and ends of eras

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this...

At some point, the body sends you the invoice.
In this episode of the Mere Mortals Podcast, I sit down with Chris Ryan, former Division 1 runner, fitness coach, Men’s Fitness cover model, former Mirror coach and founder of Chris Ryan Fitness, to talk about what it actually takes to stay strong, durable and fit as you get older.
The core lesson: fitness is not just about effort. It is about intelligent effort, repeated long enough to become identity.

Connect With Chris Ryan
Website: https://chrisryanfitness.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisryanfitness

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this...

Can you succeed without setting expectations & goals to hit?

In Episode #520 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: riff on dreaming big: how our top‑level life aims can stay steady for decades while the reasons and execution evolve, whether you truly need a “big dream” to reach elite performance, how to cultivate direction in your twenties by chasing curiosity and I tease a 20‑year out‑of‑this‑world goal that’s resurfaced from childhood.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:22) Decades, seasons of life and planning horizons
(00:07:56) Hinting at a 20-year goal out o...

When does training become trickery become manipulation?

In Episode #519 of 'Meanderings', Juan and I discuss: the messy art of celebrating wins, the difference between admiration and genuine celebration, how expectations can warp our enjoyment of milestones, how to separate rewards from celebrations, why minimum thresholds matter, and how to design simple, sustainable rituals that create real memories and why routine can quietly erase the impulse to recognise achievements.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:00) State of the podcast: cadence, book reviews, life updates
(00:03:45) Milestones hit but rarely celebrated: listens...

What do Michael Gerry, Big Brother and Clavicular all have in common?

In Episode #518 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: broadcasting everyday life (potentially 24/7), how feasible it is to capture more of life with minimal setup, early backpack rigs to Michael Gerry’s 2019 year-long life stream, the pull toward performative behaviour, the appeal of using life streaming as a mirror for self-improvement, why human interest in real humans won’t vanish in an AI-simulated world, predictions on “life media”/consent challenges/audience capture risks and why intent matters more than ever if you’re thinking about streaming your life.

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from...

The mindset of a poker pro can now be applied outside of a narrow game.

In Episode #517 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: Annie Duke’s 'Thinking In Bets' book and how the poker mindset can reshape everyday decision-making, why focusing on process over outcomes matters,  how using AI as a sounding board revealed hidden risk-taking in my own finances, testing assumptions in small experiments before going all-in, how arbitrage opportunities appear with prediction markets and why clarity on desired outcomes should drive bet-sizing.

No support for this week so no beanie either. Also my laptop die...

As much as it sucks, more volume is almost always the answer.

In Episode #516 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: volume versus form (sparked by a YouTuber/runner known as Ran to Japan), what extreme running volume really looks like when you’re fast enough to compress a marathon into a couple of hours per day, how training load evolves across years, why sheer reps often trump optimisation, steadily ramping the volume to match your goals and importance, why novice gains come from doing more before optimising, how soreness can signal meaningful work done  and when “working dumber” (less overthi...

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from...

Why is iterating hardware so difficult and what would we do if it came time to start a business.

In Episode #515 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: Clayton Christensen's 'The Innovator’s Dilemma' book, why incumbents like IBM and Blockbuster struggled with disruptive shifts, how spin-outs can help large firms explore new markets, whether today’s tech giants (NVIDIA, Amazon, Alphabet) are genuinely pivoting faster than past eras, the trap of single‑thesis bets (e.g., x402 via Coinbase/Circle), the difference between wealth and money via Paul Graham’s classic essay, my slow‑ship shift toward building something around liv...

Will the lowering returns on violence along with digital wealth storage lead to an exodus?

In Episode #514 of ' Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: The Sovereign Individual book (1997) highly recommended by Bitcoiners, early chapters bogged in Y2K angst versus strikingly prescient calls on digital money, decentralised media and the emerging cyber economy, how portable digital wealth might change the return on violence, what sovereignty means when nation-states still control critical infrastructure, historical arcs the book frames well (church cohesion and bloat, the rise of nation-states, industrial-era labour leverage) and where its predictions remain wavy, why megapolitics is way...

What makes a bun dance?

In Episode #513 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the definition of abundance versus how futurists/technologists and everyday folks actually use it, the conflation of “lots of something” with “zero friction access,” whether abundance must be global or can be meaningfully local, test the concept across water, food, intelligence and money, why more does not equal free (or even better), scarcity’s persistent psychological pull, whether a world of replicators (à la Star Trek) would make us healthier or simply more indulgent, Dyson spheres/Matryoshka brains/chess engines and why perfect performance is boring compared to messy hu...

Are there any downsides to taking part in upsides?

In Episode #512 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: how the internet moved from corporate networks to open protocol networks to blockchain networks, Dixon’s framing (read, write, own), why he thinks open protocols like RSS struggled against corporate platforms, where blockchains might change take rates, the real-world viability of tokenomics, if ownership will matter for in a future of AI, micro‑payments and abundant digital goods, games vs music business models and whether people will actually care about on-chain ownership if everything becomes cheap and effortless to access. 

No su...

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from...

You can't say yes to everything .... so where do you draw the line?

In Episode #511 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the “hell yes versus no” decision-making lens and where it truly fits, opportunity cost/time constraints/certainty versus uncertainty, how emotion or rationality shapes decisions, stacking reasons to make a strong yes, a practical quadrant for choosing activities based on enjoyment and likelihood of meeting people.

Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:39) Context matters: opportunity cost, age and life stage
(00:07:45) Replacing habits: when a simple yes is enough
(00:09:44) Deci...

We're destressing and just going over all the non-goal related things swirling around in the current moment.

In Episode #510 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the old million dollar homepage and the new x402 version, experimenting with a cheeky one‑pixel squatting strategy to test rent‑seeking dynamics, why some value‑for‑value/Lightning initiatives plateau despite strong early communities, advertising economics from retro web banners to F1 liveries, if energy could become the unit of exchange in agent‑to‑agent worlds and whether the current moment has the most amount of historical rate of change.

Huge thanks to Co...

It's a new year ... no new goals ... instead we're focusing upon what NOT to focus upon.

In Episode #509 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss:  what we’re not bringing into 2026, expectation inflation (how setting grand scenarios can pre-bake resentment), how to strike a workable balance between Eastern contentment and Western drive, choosing realistic marathon aims without sacrificing other priorities, ditching negative self‑talk, making room for smarter training decisions that prevent injury and burnout and avoiding philosophers/what ifers/haters in the media landscape.

No support so we can't focus on the beanie.

Stan Link: https...

I'm shifting away from listening to podcasts and I'm a blog reader now.

In Episode #508 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: why our media diets are shifting, how we each consume information across video, audio, books, Substack, X long‑form (even X Spaces), why written digital content is winning more of our attention lately, the flood of AI‑generated media (from YouTube videos to TTS podcasts spun from Reddit threads), the challenge of finding high‑signal sources, fiction vs non‑fiction swings, curation styles (tabs vs phone-first), rising ad density in pods/YouTube to near ad‑free long‑form writing and...

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from...

We're expanding out from an AI blog into the real world. Also had some issues with the audio this episode so I'm working from the backup copy (that was super loud for some reason).

In Episode #507 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the shift from attention to intention in the AI era, what truly agentic AI might look like versus glorified chatbots and automated workflows, where the tech is actually useful right now, whether the real breakthroughs will come from bolt-ons to existing platforms or from new rails built natively for agents, testing jailbreak games, microtransactions and betting on...

Magnus is back with a master class on how to buy art.

In Episode #506 of 'Meanderings', Juan and I discuss: the big blank wall behind us, how to choose something meaningful for your home, Magnus Resch’s books 'How To Become A Successful Artist' and 'How to Collect Art', why branding and networking matter in the art world, why most buyers should treat art as a sunk cost and purchase only what they truly love, practical buying tips (galleries, fairs, auctions, pricing signals), comparing art collecting with car collecting, digital art and NFTs as a way to prove ow...

I'm a woman trapped in a man's body analysing dating advice for women given by a man.

In #505 of 'Meanderings', Juan and I discuss: three dating and relationships books (The New Rules, Get the Guy by Matthew Hussey and Attached), how prescriptive “rules” aimed at women can backfire, why some advice feels outdated (Facebook walls and BBM), how scarcity games tend to attract the very players you might want to avoid, why attachment styles are useful as a lens but less so as a to‑do list, a focus on authenticity over mere effectiveness, watch the influence of your f...

There is a reason why the art 'space' is divisive and why money distorts many things.

In Episode #504 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: the book by Magnus Resch titled '100 Secrets of the Art World', tight‑knit gatekeeping at the high end of the market, how control of information shape what gets seen and sold (often more than artistic merit), parallels to other status markets such as watches/supercars, why 'better' often defaults to 'more expensive', where marketing can overshadow craft yet many collectors still buy for love and to support artists and why the truest encounters with ar...

The master does nothing .... yet he leaves nothing undone.

In Episode #503 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: why the mindset of mastery may matter more than the title of “master", Robert Greene’s book called Mastery, the role of obsession, whether teaching is required for mastery, “unearned” mastery and savant talent and a pragmatic take on how to design your own path toward improvement without sacrificing what matters most.

Huge thanks to Petar for the support, very much appreciated!
 
Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:08) Why read Robert Greene's 'Mastery...

It's time for our monthly check in where we review our goals from last month and see what's coming up for the next.

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous monthly goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from...

It's time for the male version of therapy .... podcasting!!!

In Episode #502 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: Lori Gottlieb’s book 'Maybe You Should Talk to Someone', the emotional burden therapists carry plus the mirror-like role they play in helping people surface what’s unsaid, my own brief stint with therapy as a late teen, why men seek therapy less, what they tend to talk about (anger, identity, intimacy, parenting), whether gym time/mates/modern tools like AI can substitute for a human therapist and how to decide when an external guide could reveal the real question behind the prob...

Let's help Juan find some excitement in the daily grind!

In Episode #501 of 'Meanderings', Juan and I discuss: the shifting meaning of “adventure” across seasons of life, adventure beyond skydiving (think ballet classes, new walking routes, digital art experiments and structured learning), how vicarious adventures through kids or friends can scratch the itch without derailing priorities, a note on podcasting 2.0’s KeySend/LNURL Lightning shift and practical ideas to add novelty without burning your foundations.

Huge thanks to Petar for the support, much appreciated!
 
Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals

Timeline:
(0...

An easy update from the Mere Mortals podcast on what the future holds for us + the focus to come.

Connect with Mere Mortals:
Website: https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReU
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/

Connect with Mere Mortals:
Website: https://www.meremortalspodcasts.com/
Discord: https://discord.gg/K99e8fysBn
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcasts/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcasts

Value 4 Value...

He’s sold over $6 million in high-ticket offers, worked with the top names in the industry, and built a community of closers who actually win, not just talk about it.

In this conversation, Orlando Santucci breaks down the formulas, philosophies and frameworks that drive consistent results.

https://closerscult.com/

00:00 – Who knows you, who you know (why attention matters)
02:19 – From Macca’s & uni to first sales role (Jason Capital ad)
03:03 – “Oh... I’m in sales” moment
08:50 – Energy vs Skill: 60/40 of closing
10:06 – “Chill closer” mindset (personality-based tactics)
11:27 – The CLOSES Framework
12:50 – The Overview...

We have reached half a (MIL)estone so let's give it a half assed effort!

In Episode #500 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: six years of podcasting, the origin story of why we originally started, stats and highlights across YouTube and audio, mishaps (spiders, dead mics, random street cameos), how our focus on value has changed over the years, community shout-outs (thanks for the surprise cake, Mum!), the lessons learned from interviews and long-form chats and why we’ve kept ads out of the show, what “doubling down” means for us, clearer topic lanes across our channels (tech, AI, books...

Is the real world actually shaped for social interaction!?

In Episode #499 of 'Musings', Juan & I discuss: 2 x books of Susan Cain’s 'Quiet' alongside Paul McKenna’s 'Instant Influence & Charisma', the quiet revolution of introverts rising up, what the book gets right (high reactivity, Big Five personality traits, pseudo‑extroversion), whether energy is the true differentiator, why environments like open‑plan offices and classrooms may suit the loud but don’t always produce the best work or learning, Juan's immense distaste of charisma hacks (power poses, havening), how confidence can be generated from practice rather than posture & how culture sh...