Description 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 …

Description 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 an…

Description 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 …

Description 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 ti…

Description 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…

In 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 w…

In 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 fr…

Description 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 ab…

Description 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 th…

In 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…

Vikram 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:…

Sampath 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 an…

Half 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 Ha…

Subu 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 Lin…

In 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 L…

How 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 id…

Ever 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…

Should 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, a…

Subu 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…

Vikram 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 live…