Episode 43- Happiness, Derren Brown, Life & Death (Part 4 of 4)

To round off the year, we present another multi-part series, this time on a fascinating topic that I have come to see as something of an art form. The main material being used is David Welch’s very accessible and even-handed book ‘Propaganda: Power & Persuasion, which accompanied an exhibition on the topic at the British Library in 2013.   Is propaganda good or bad? Or does it just depend on who’s propagating the information? In Part 1, we look at definitions of propaganda, some of the history of it, and we begin to build up a picture of its place in our society. Part 2 will be on its way soon   We sincerely 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected]   Link to David Welch’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17674209-propaganda   episode links What is propaganda? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda   Edward Bernays’s seminal book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/493212.Propaganda   25 powerful propaganda posters https://www.emlii.com/25-most-powerful-propaganda-posters-that-made-all-the-difference/   Noam Chomsky propaganda lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9shpeKIXCMc&t=1181s   Theaters of War (Hollywood propaganda) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theaters_of_War   Top Gun’s crude/clever propaganda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9XqeE21bAU   Rory Sutherland’s superb TED talks on advertising https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_perspective_is_everything https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man   Muhammad Ali on the black/white issue in culture (1971) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI6X386lc9A&t=9s

We’ve got a special episode for you this time as Antony is joined by 1990s football legend and truth-seeker Matt Le Tissier. The conversation hits on a few topics such as the recent Euro 2024 tournament and some of the problems with the mentality of English football. Antony and Matt then discuss media narratives and the wider agenda regarding sport, especially its propagandistic relationship with national identity.   We sincerely 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected]   episode links The problem with England (football team) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Jd1IacEwE   Why people love watching football https://breakingthelines.com/opinion/the-psychology-behind-why-we-love-watching-football/   Matt’s Twitter feed https://x.com/mattletiss7   Matt on ‘The Mind Renewed’ podcast https://www.themindrenewed.com/interviews/2022/22-interviewnotes/1533-int-209n   CBD products (use the code Tiss40 at checkout for 40% off any product ) https://supremecbd.uk/   Matt’s top 10 goals (spectacular!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8_dVekpn70

To mark Life And Life Only’s half-century, I drove back to my original home town on the day I celebrated another journey round the sun, to share a few personal reminiscences and also muse on nostalgia, memories, socio-economic status and a few other things…   There’s a nice bit of relaxing music to finish today’s episode and an announcement of a rather special guest coming up for LALO 51   I sincerely 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links The good and bad of nostalgia (Psychology Today) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-everyday-unconscious/202009/why-nostalgia-the-amazing-power-of-reminiscing https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-everyday-unconscious/202009/the-dark-side-of-nostalgia   John Lennon And Me (Glass Onion: On John Lennon Episode 98- includes ‘The Blind Goalscorer’ story) https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/episode-98-john-lennon-and-me   A walk through Egham town centre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc1TxjwLJ7o&t=297s   A video about the JFK memorial in Runnymede https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g2AWLJfAY0   Bill Hicks plays Egham (no local material included!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gGcI0hxSuo&list=PL97DFD641E4A2A440&index=1&t=43s   Matt Le Tissier on ‘The Mind Renewed’ podcast https://www.themindrenewed.com/interviews/2022/1532-int-209   Some of ‘Le God’’s amazing goals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8_dVekpn70

And so we bring to an end another podcast series as we conclude our whistle-stop journey through some of the highlights of John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, which is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor and the intelligent layman. The topics and sub-topics this time include spiritual experiences and the various ways of achieving them, being fully alive and awake, death, mortality & aging and the difficulty of change. As you listen, perhaps you could ponder these questions: -Are we really living our lives or actually dreaming our way through them? -Why not devote the rest of your life , starting now, to improving your wellbeing and working on your development and happiness   As is the usual format, Antony picks parts from the book, reads them out and then expands on some of the points made. We sincerely hope you enjoy this show and have enjoyed this recent series of episodes If so, please subscribe, like, share etc...   Support the show at: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/antonyrotunno OR https://www.buymeacoffee.com/antonyrotunno   Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lifeandlife75   Twitter https://twitter.com/lifeonly75   Feedback to [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links John and Robin’s 2 books https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20582.Families_and_How_To_Survive_Them https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1518412.Life_and_How_To_Survive_It   Derren Brown’s ‘Happy’ book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30142270-happy   Bill Hicks on drugs and God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFywGDAU3ik   Rupert Sheldrake banned TED talk (The Science Delusion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKHUaNAxsTg   Rupert with Russell Brand on the ‘Under The Skin’ podcast (Science vs God) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAS-QzWvj8g   Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s 5 stages of grief https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/effects-of-grief/five-stages-of-grief/   Monty Python’s ‘Dead Parrot’ sketch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218&t=202s

We continue our sprawling but hopefully enlightening trawl through John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, which is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor and the intelligent layman. One of the many strengths of the book is how it takes concepts and ideas and shows how they can be adapted to various contexts. Among the topics and sub-topics touched upon in this episode are politics, society and its many forms, the continuing quest for the keys to happiness and mental clarity, the differences between British, American and Japanese culture, myths & reality, and the relationship between religion and mental health. As is the usual format, Antony picks some interesting parts from the book, reads them out and then expands on some of the points made. Part 3 will be on its merry way soon We 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links John and Robin’s 2 books https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20582.Families_and_How_To_Survive_Them https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1518412.Life_and_How_To_Survive_It   The Id, Ego, Superego concept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_superego   Waldorf Salad (Fawlty Towers episode) clips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZoUH43nI4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIVGX-IkVy8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_uDB-0iBR8   The Secret Life of Brian documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdU_6jUQI9s   Chris Ryan interview on ‘Civilised To Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdThkFaQ4fQ   Review of Matt Taibbi’s ‘Hate Inc.’ (recommended book about the current political climate) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1077699020965190

As the podcast nears its half century, we venture into another multi-parter, this time on John Cleese and Robin Skynner’s very readable, entertaining and insightful book ‘Life & How To Survive It’, the sequel to their ‘Families & How To Survive Them’. As with ‘Families’, this book is presented as an ongoing dialogue between the doctor/expert and the patient/layman.   As is the usual format, Antony picks some interesting parts from the book, reads them out and then expands on some of the points made. Part 1 starts with looking at good, bad and average mental health among individuals, families and companies. Along the way, there is discussion of generosity, work, humour, dependence, neurosis and defences and a few other things   Part 2 will be on its merry way soon   We 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links John and Robin’s 2 books https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20582.Families_and_How_To_Survive_Them https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1518412.Life_and_How_To_Survive_It   The Id, Ego, Superego concept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_superego   John Cleese’s eulogy to Graham Chapman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3rIMI-pAg   Indian laughter yoga (try not to laugh!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N60nBD-_Mc   Glass Onion: On John Lennon Episode 99.5 (released on April 1st) https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/episode-995-paul-is-dead-0   A Fish Called Wanda (1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j31jauLZovc

We conclude our discussion centred on W Timothy Gallwey’s book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ by talking about nerves, including citing some famous cases of ‘choking’ in sport, and then engaging in a little fun speculation as to who might win the remaining tennis Grand Slams of this year and beyond, in both the men’s and women’s tours.    We 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 [email protected]   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.co 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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links link to Mr Gallwey’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905.The_Inner_Game_of_Tennis    A previous LALO episode about nerves (and table tennis) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4BqdMZ3Pd4   Jan Van der Velde’s famous meltdown at the British Open in 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t00AbenIkc   Jana Novotna chokes at Wimbledon in 1993 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miGEqbZkHOo   What exactly are Introverts and Extroverts? https://www.simplypsychology.org/introvert-extrovert.html   A short animated guide to Sport Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jj2I_Kn-s

Darrell & Antony continue their discussion of W Timothy Gallwey’s book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’, which expertly uses that sport as a context to give wider insights into the nature of performance, the mental traps we set for ourselves and how to overcome challenges and be your best self. Although not an easy thing to do, you may find that at least it’s simpler than you think, and the book (and hopefully our discussion) offers many lessons for tennis, sport and life.   We 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links link to Mr Gallwey’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905.The_Inner_Game_of_Tennis    A previous LALO episode about tennis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-BmXL_ajLc   A short animated guide to Sport Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jj2I_Kn-s   TED talk- ‘Inside The Mind of Champion Athletes’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG7v4y_xwzQ   McEnroe-Borg: Fire and Ice (documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvF5ARwXm-M

For our first podcast series of 2024, we welcome Darrell Swan to talk about some of the benefits of Life Coaching before we deep dive into the book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ by W Timothy Gallwey. Darrell is a former Life Coachee of Antony’s and also a tennis player with a great interest in sports psychology.   Gallwey’s book expertly uses tennis as a context to give wider insights into the nature of performance, some of the mental traps involved and how to be mindful and let your natural self perform. There are many lessons here for tennis, general sport and life.   This first part of the discussion is the Life Coaching section, some ‘outer truth’ insights and the first portion of ‘The Inner Game’.   We 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 [email protected]   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 [email protected] or [email protected] (the LALO email occasionally gets full of spam)   episode links link to Mr Gallwey’s book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905.The_Inner_Game_of_Tennis   The previous LALO episode on Life Coaching https://lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com/e/episode-19-life-coaching-creativity-communal-experience-mental-health/   A short animated guide to Sport Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6jj2I_Kn-s   TED talk- ‘Inside The Mind of Champion Athletes’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG7v4y_xwzQ

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] or [email protected] (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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFO6OtnmEDo