FLAME with Brad Hook

Dr. Chloe West is a psychedelic neuroscientist who studies how psychedelics change the way the brain processes information and updates its beliefs about the world. Her path began at age ten, when her family moved from a small town in Georgia's Bible Belt to Kawakawa in New Zealand's Northland, and she encountered atheism, evolution and ayahuasca in the same disorienting year. Brad and Chloe explore why beliefs absorbed in childhood are so hard to shift, how psychedelics raise neural entropy and soften the brain's certainty in its own predictions, and why the weeks after an experience matter as much as the experience itself. They also consider mystical states reached without substances, the risks of a challenging trip, and whether psychedelics helped shape the world's religions.Psychedelics act like fresh snow on a sledding hill, letting the mind carve new paths beyond the rigid grooves of PTSD, depression and addiction.Perception is a "controlled hallucination," and psychedelics temporarily loosen the brain's predictions so old beliefs can update.Chloe's research suggests a window of openness in the weeks after an experience, when setting and support shape what takes hold.Breathwork, meditation and flicker light can open similar states without any substance at all.Dr. Chloe's LinksBorn Again Again (Substack): https://drchloewest.substack.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloewestjacobsGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HGfgbJMAAAAJ&hl=enBrad's LinksBrad Hook on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookBrad Hook on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookAttend a live experience: https://flame.liveDiscover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.comValues Institute: https://values.institute

Don Mann spent 21 years in the Navy SEAL Teams, retiring from SEAL Team Six, then another 25 as a CIA contractor. He is a New York Times bestselling author, host of the TV series Surviving Mann, and a veteran of more than 1,000 endurance events, including a double Ironman he finished after passing out at mile 32 of the run. In this conversation with Brad Hook, he describes the combat mindset that got him through a night dive with no oxygen, the leaders who taught him to leave ego at the door, and the four daily habits from his new book, Navy SEAL Playbook, that he offers to anyone who wants more from their life. He is also frank about what twenty years of continuous war has done to the people who fought it, why the wars being fought today keep him up at night, and why he now puts being a good person ahead of being a warrior.Why most people set their goals too low, and how to choose a macro goal and micro-goal your way upFour daily rules: get stronger, get faster, get smarter, and do something good for somebodyLeading without ego, from the SEAL Team Six leader who made every man on the team feel neededVisualize it worse than it will be: the mental practice that got Don through BUD/SGet the book: https://navysealplaybook.com/the-navy-seal-playbook-don-mannConnect with Don:https://www.usfrogmann.comConnect with Brad:https://www.instagram.com/bradhookhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookhttps://flame.livehttps://bradleyhook.comhttps://values.institute

What happens when the striving that built your career stops working? Fabrice Desmarescaux, McKinsey partner, leader of Aberkyn in Southeast Asia and author of The Art of Retreats, joins Brad to explore the "second adulthood": the unnamed life stage that begins around 45, when raw problem-solving gives way to wisdom, judgment and the ability to hold paradox. Drawing on decades of coaching CEOs and C-suite teams, Fabrice explains why control doesn't scale, why midlife is an awakening rather than a crisis, and why silence, solitude and stillness are the most underrated leadership tools of all. A warm, quietly radical conversation about presence, letting go, and finding your new game.In this episode:Fluid intelligence peaks in your 30s, but crystallized intelligence keeps growing into your 70s and 80sWhy senior leadership is an adaptive challenge: influence, nudging and holding space instead of controlThe lost rites of passage, and why we need elders to guide life's biggest transitionsHow to build a retreat into a busy day through silence, solitude and disconnectionGet The Art of Retreats: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Retreats-Leaders-Journey-Clarity/dp/1544526369Fabrice's website: https://www.desmarescaux.comFabrice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabrice-desmarescauxConnect with Brad:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookAttend a live experience: https://flame.liveDiscover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.comValues Institute: https://values.institute

Ellen Hunter Gans is a writer, 41-time marathoner, Ironman triathlete, and the first person with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. In this conversation she takes us inside the Great World Race — from a packed-snow course in Antarctica's White Desert to a heat-index scorcher in Cartagena — complete with a venomous spider bite, a stolen wallet, and a plane once used by the Rolling Stones. Along the way she shares the stories behind her new book, Seven Marathons: lung cancer survivors running with one lung, a Welsh firefighter racing in full kit, and elite women choosing collaboration over world records. It's a warm, funny, and quietly profound look at resilience, shared purpose, and why the time to chase your big goals is now.Camaraderie is a performance tool: research shows shared struggle literally reduces the experience of painTreat big goals as commitments, not options — sign up first, then figure out howRest matters: Ellen qualified for Boston by running less, not more (three focused runs a week)If not now, when? Don't wait for a diagnosis or a deadline to do the thingGet the book: https://sevenmarathonsbook.comConnect with Brad Hook:https://www.instagram.com/bradhookhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookExplore more:https://flame.livehttps://bradleyhook.comhttps://values.institute

Joey Klein is the founder and CEO of Inner Matrix Systems and the author of The Inner Matrix and Relationship Alchemy. After a near-death experience at 19 pulled him out of a destructive lifestyle, he spent two decades blending ancient wisdom traditions, psychology, and neuroscience into a practical system for personal mastery — one he has now taught to more than 90,000 people, from Fortune 500 executives to professional athletes. In this conversation, Joey and Brad explore why lasting change starts with the nervous system rather than the mind, and how emotional mastery can be trained like any other skill.Why you can't think your way out of anxiety: regulate the nervous system first, manage emotion second, then train the mindThe three emotional competencies: awareness, switching off fear, and switching on love-based statesA simple morning check-in and four-sided breathing practice you can start todayThe four steps behind every real transformationFree for FLAME listeners — both of Joey's books plus a complimentary training session with a certified IMS trainer:https://joeyklein.com/flamepodcastFollow Joey:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeyKleinIMSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealjoeyklein/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyklein/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeyKleinIMS/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialjoeykleinConnect with Brad:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookAttend a live experience: https://flame.liveDiscover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.comValues Institute: https://values.institute