Podbit · Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast
Sunlight hitting skin triggers a release of natural opiates in the brain. Dermatologists saw this as proof of a dangerous addiction; Rowan Jacobsen saw it as evolutionary proof that sun-seeking behavior was rewarded because it was good for us.
Where this was said
At 10:55 · chapter starts 10:20
Rowan Jacobsen describes a writing career that began in book publishing, shifted to ghostwriting — which he found ego-free and useful as a craft exercise — and then landed in food writing after editing a 'persnickety' gourmet magazine in Vermont in the early 2000s. His oyster book accidentally made him the go-to expert on the topic, and he accepts the food writer label with good humor ('better than being the proctology writer'). The throughline, he explains, was always folding science into food writing — curiosity about where things come from and what makes them taste the way they do.
When sunlight hits skin it triggers a release of endorphins — natural opiates — in the brain, which is why people feel addicted to sun exposure.
AI nailed Andrew Huberman's vertigo-vs-low-blood-pressure diagnosis because that pattern has been reported millions of times. But every patient's liver is different and data on liver surgeries is scarce worldwide — making solo robot surgery dangerous. The rule is simple: data abundance means AI can help; data scarcity means keep the human in the loop.
Fei-Fei Li's father had liver surgery performed by a da Vinci robot guided by a surgeon. The result: 10 times less blood loss than a typical procedure. This isn't replacement — it's the gold standard of human-machine collaboration, where the human's judgment and the robot's precision combine.
US drug overdose deaths fell from 110,000 to roughly 70,000 — the biggest CDC-recorded single-year drop ever. Men's rates fell 27% in one year, and the steepest decline of all was among 15–24-year-olds, down 37%. The crisis narrative around young men needs to make room for signs of genuine progress.
Kessler thought his grief expertise would protect him. It didn't. When his son David died unexpectedly, he found himself on the floor — and eventually realized that acceptance alone wasn't enough. That unmet need became the sixth stage: finding meaning.
Grief isn't just death — it's any unwanted change. Kessler lectured at Coca-Cola and General Mills not because they had lots of funerals, but because change management is grief management. People who grieve well live well.
Witnessing someone's grief isn't just emotional support — it's an essential act of healing. Kessler argues grief is a severance and connection heals it. But real witnessing has two steps: seeing the pain AND affirming the person's capacity to recover.
Avoiding grief isn't free — it's exhausting. Kessler's beach ball metaphor nails it: pushing a small balloon down is easy, but holding a massive beach ball underwater takes constant, draining energy. Unattended feelings don't disappear; they just consume you.
Most people try to control their environment to avoid triggers. Kessler flips this entirely: triggers aren't problems to manage around — they're a detailed map to your pain and your healing. Every trigger points directly to what needs attention.
Running from pain doesn't leave it behind — it accelerates the chase. Whatever we run from pursues us, and whatever we face transforms us. Both Kessler and Lewis Howes testify to knowing both roads firsthand.
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