Aldís' Studio Podcast

Hello dear music-lovers, I feel like improv is a great way to grow as a musician, alongside other musicians. It's also a great conversational skill for interviews. The interview let-down is real though. I had my interviews on Saturday (group + individual + immersion networking) and am recovering in part by putting these together for you. So, thank goodness for music. Whenever your soul needs a little tender loving care, music will be there for you, and hopefully your loved ones too.#1 of 9 excerpts is shared above, and all 9 are attached as mp3's below, Patron-only downloads. I may put a few or all of these out on the podcast tonight. We were way more critical of ourselves this time, and there was some self-deprecating energy around our creative blocks. But listening back for excerpts, I found myself liking quite a bit of what we did, and finding creative bursts here and there. Hope you enjoy these. Sending some of this TLC your way :) Aldísp.s. Noah's also on YouTube documenting his improv and composition journey while also handling a Titanic-load of work, so props to you Noah. Hang in there, any of you who are also juggling two passions. And thanks Noah, once again, for a wonderful musical collaboration.p.p.s. for general vibes of each (unless you want each to be a surprise, in which case don't read on)... or feel free to comment with your personal impressions and would-be titles! :D 1. tuning riff, new age, discovery 2. finding yourself, uncertainty... this is my least favorite one, but 3:51-4:13 (sad beauty <3) ... anyway we definitely found each other: our last three notes were exactly the same. 3. anew, angry, angsty... rebirth around halfway mark 4. determined chord riff, triumphant especially around 2:30 minutes, hopeful striving 5. coming to terms with something 6. homecoming and transcendence  7. some anime soundtrack?? cherry blossoms, wistful... then forging ahead! 8. broad, sweeping, and nostalgic, graduation vibes 9. reminiscence cont. (a continuation of 8) - liked the ending, so put it last :)

Here are my notes from the Patreon workshop: “How to set and hit your creative goals.” I also took an audio grab because it was so inspiring, so that's here too. A personal highlight is at 37:45 when Jack read one of my chats, "faceplants haha" in response to his story of starting Patreon which involved – you guessed it, faceplants.I really appreciated the way Jack was so open with specific visions and goals within his band, Pomplamoose, and gave real anecdotes about the creative process. It was an awesome, uplifting workshop, and the chat was the liveliest I've ever witnessed. Thanks to the Patreon team for this.Searching "how to set and hit your creative goals" gets tons of potentially helpful results in Google. These are just 7 steps that Patreon co-founder and Pomplamoose musician, Jack Conte laid out in the workshop, along with questions you can ask yourself if you're building an annual plan of any sort, particularly the creative sort.Why build a plan? It’ll help you focus, figure out what you want, and live your dreamWhat should the plan consist of? Vision statement Key results Focus areasStep #1: Get introspective for a moment What do you want? Why? What are your top strengths? What attracts people to your work? What are their comments like? What do you want to be doing 5 years from now? Put on rosy spectacles and dream away This exercise should make you feel good not stressed thinking about it Step #2: Look back to move forward Some people call this a retrospective or a “happy crappy” What worked? What didn’t work? What improvements will you make? Turn “what didn’t work” into concrete problem statements I need/I want an agent/manager/assistant… is not a problem statement I had trouble with marketing channels… is a problem statement I spent too much time on social media… is a problem statement Step #3: Visualize your perfect year and write about it in past tense What did you accomplish? How did it feel? Who did you collaborate with? How many people did you reach? How much money did you make? How much were you able to pay out to your team? Where were you? What did you prioritize or de-prioritize? What platforms did you use or not use?Step #4: Organize your responses by category Within your problem statements and your vision statement, what categories keep recurring? Production quality, content release, relationships, growth, income, team Three of my buckets were collaboration, strategy, and education. I also organized by type of art/work so that I could narrow down key focus areas like violin, writing, and grad school. Step #5: Write a vision statement Take 90 minutes to 2 hours to go deep and write in the future tense (“I will…”) By the end of this, your brain should be “hyper freakin’ engaged!” – Jack Conte Make each point specific, ambitious, and achievable Make it clear as a photo (or collage) One of my friends actually made a vision board, collecting physical cut-outs from magazines and printouts: all outdoorsy, adventurous, and eco. Credits to: Meaghan.t It’s pretty much what her Instagram looks like too, so vision boards work!Step #6: Define your key results Make them binary: you achieved it or you didn’t Quantitative or qualitative (you feel great about your work at least 80% of the time) Looking at the list should make you feel excited to achieve each resultStep #7: Choose your areas of focus 2-3 areas that will direct your day to day goals and work Their scope should be broad enough so you can work on these areas for a year (or however long you’re planning for)Miscellaneous tips from Q&AIf something gets in the way or goals change, adjust your plan and keep goingTo stay positive: Keep your eye on the horizon. Remember the troughs are local, and keep climbing that mountain. Also it’s ok to feel down; acknowledge whatever the emotion may be rather than repressing it.Share some of your vision with family, friends or fans to help it become a reality (they can keep you accountable, or fuel your excitement, or point you toward helpful resources and connections).Know your why: Jack’s why for co-founding Patreon is to help creators get paid, so creativity can be a viable, sustainable livelihood. My reason for creating, doing climate work, supporting other artists, and pursuing graduate studies is to have a climate-positive and humanitarian influence. What's your why? Comment and inspire :)Speaking of supporting other artists!I met a ton of fellow creators during this workshop, and decided to support two more of them here on Patreon: composer Chris Huelsbeck and Dutch-American photographer of NYC Richard Koek, along with everything-artist Amanda Palmer, whom I've been supporting since September and been a fan of since I discovered her book The Art of Asking in 2019.Keep on creating; keep on dreaming. Thank you for your support.Have a wonderful day!Aldís

20-minute episode now available on:  Acast  Spotify Music in this episode: (0:00) "Improv in NYC - 1" by Noah Fechtor-Pradines (15:30) "My Song 37 Longer" by Noah Fechtor-PradinesNoah Fechtor-Pradines is a quantitative researcher living in New York City who composes music and plays the piano in his free time. Most recently he has also picked up the violin and started taking socially-distanced lessons! We talk about his creative process, music theory as the "grammar" of music, and improvisation as the "immersion" of becoming fluent in the universal language that is music.An improvisation 'jam' session in Eliot House, 2019.Podcast zoom call, 2020.Abbreviated transcript follows: I was 11 years old I think.(0:30) That’s when Noah first started playing the piano. Sometimes I hated lessons and practicing but I loved the piano. I think it was something my parents suggested as something I should consider, and I was like sure! But then I loved it and continued.(0:50) His first exposure to improvisation was at the end of high school, at school assemblies, when people would come in and out of the auditorium for the national anthems. I went to a British school so we'd sing the British and United States national anthems. And afterwards, I’d stick around, just playing things easy on the ears, not like elevator music but pleasant things.(1:30) When he’s alone with the piano it’s a very intimate process of creativity. I just turn off all the lights, and play by feel. It’s very much a mood thing.(2:30) I asked if he was then comfortable making such improvisations public on YouTube. I get full control over what I put up there, and I’m comfortable playing in public. And I’m getting more comfortable with making mistakes in a recording and still posting it.(2:55) I was also curious whether putting his improvisations up on YouTube changed what he played in any way. Well there’s meter and dissonance … joke about band tripping over missed beat. But even the set up is a barrier. [You need a real piano, I say, and laughter]. I do need a real piano. I really do. Actually one of the things I miss is trying out pianos at the Steinway Store. I think they’re willing to bet that in 20 years, there’s a high chance I’ll have such positive associations with them that I’ll buy a Steinway over another brand.(6:00) We talked about some of the other things he misses during COVID lockdown, like live concerts and jam sessions with fellow musicians. It’s been like over a year. [Netherlands street musicians] So jealous… I live for that stuff! I was at a salsa dance gathering in Boston and there was one of those  "Play Me I'm Yours" pianos. I started playing and some guy joined me - it was great! There’s a spot in Union Square where people often play music, and I'll be going to work or coming back from work, and there'll be a saxophone screaming down the subway. Those are the moments that make life exciting. I miss it so much.(8:10) Being around people in person, and hearing live music (or YouTube productions of novel scores) function at the core of his improvisational inspiration. Sometimes It’s hard to be creative when there’s nothing to draw inspiration from. When I hear something I don’t understand, the process of understanding it is one of the most creative moments for me. A big part of my process is just figuring out what I liked about what I heard, and playing it in as many different possible ways as I can think of, and that happens over the course of maybe 5 hours.(9:04) Those are the kernels of inspiration. And I love that he calls them kernels because it's such a mathematical expression. It's 100% a mood thing, you just have to be in the mood in the moment. [I remember you were very inspired after a movie and composed "my song longer 37"] I have a whole bunch of unfinished thoughts that I just abandoned… don’t really know where they are now… [oh no!](10:40) You know Neil Gaiman, the writer? There’s his idea of compost pile that all of our previous writings or experiences go into this compost pile of our imagination and then out come the flowers of the next composition, the next thing. So poetic! Yeah, it sort of needs to sit there for a while, before the flowers bloom. [and sometimes methane comes out] Right, we don’t record those… [laughter] [Or we do and delete them... so they never see the light of day](12:09) What have you been doing musically creatively? he asked me. [Actually I've started improvising on violin. I was inspired by you, and the way you can create sweeping phrases and beautiful sounding chords… but I don’t know much music theory.] I actually have an opinion about music theory… First of all, everyone’s biased toward the way they learned things, but I think I knew a lot more music theory from just improvising. So taking music theory class was just learning what those things were called.(13:54) It’s like grammar for language… music theory for music. Yeah, like who do I consider more fluent: someone who knows all the grammatical rules for Spanish or someone who lived in Spain for three years and speaks it fluently?(14:08) So improvisation is the immersion of the musical world of communication and creation. I think one of the things that’s bolstered my violin the fastest is I have this practice regimen... but then I explore what’s possible, and what the patterns are.(15:50) And he’s almost done with book 1 of Suzuki after 2 months. Suzuki is popular among teachers of beginner violinists. My teacher makes my progress sound impressive but then he’s comparing me with 7 year olds [laughter] [Once you learn one instrument, easier to learn the next](16:17) But he’s got a unique goal that sets him apart from students, possibly of any age. I just want to be familiar enough that I can understand it and play creatively and write stuff that involves it. [Cool because composers need to know how to play the other instruments they write for…] It’s so different! The attack is different. When I see a whole note over two measures, piano brain sees that and thinks nothing’s happening. [So it’s going to change what you write for violin] Yeah, yeah it’s going to change. But I’m already having a ball just squeaking out notes.(18:06) There is a violin store that’s open, and Noah’s been trying out violins. The guy Lukas Wronski was like, here you try this one, I'll be back in an hour. This violin better, try. There were 8 violins to try. You play, you play, you play.(18:59) He ended up finding out the violin-maker’s story at the violin shop while he was trying out violins… so we’ll close with this anecdote. When he was 14 he went to get his violin fixed, and the maker ended up teaching him how to fix it himself. Eventually he started making his own violins! There’s so much craft that goes into these things... damn.(19:40) Thank you Noah for joining me for this final highlight of the year! Keep on creating, y'all.AldísP.S. You can check out more of Noah's music here on YouTube.

Hello,In this 20-minute episode I reconnect with one of my violin teachers, Emma Colligan. You can find the episode on Spotify and Acast or listen here on Patreon! With Emma, 2009Emma Colligan now teaches 50 young violin students at her School of Violin in New Zealand. She also performs with Orchestra Wellington and does freelance gigs. (0:11) In 2006, Emma was studying her Violin Performance Masters at the Longy School of Music and ended up structuring all her courses around her favorite teacher and mine: Mr. Mark Lakirovich.  "I was like, this is great! I get to structure my whole program around my favorite teacher!"(1:22) While learning pedagogy with Mark, Emma also taught me and other students. I asked  if anything from Mark's lessons carried over in her current teaching.  "Totally! Basically everything!"(2:13) Before delving into her teaching experience in New Zealand (and online teaching during lockdown, and lockdown itself), we reminisced about Longy and lessons with Mark.  "You couldn't really repeat that time of my life. I was in the right place at the right time to get that experience; just kind of lucky." - Emma "I just remember spending hours in that teaching room, and he was always an hour behind - and it didn't bother me at all! – and you kind of just knew that if you were last you were not gonna start on time, but you had to show up on time just in case." - Emma  "Time just disappeared! You'd get to listen in to the previous lesson, and that was such good teaching too." - AE "Or the next lesson! I just found it fascinating, watching. Especially when he was working with younger students. I'd never seen him working with such talented kids where it makes a massive, massive difference how you deliver and what you give." - EmmaThe Generations Concert. Mark and Emma are pictured first on the left. Original PC: N.L.'s dad.(4:16) Emma would always have a notebook with her at lessons. She still has those books, and read back on some entries. "First of March, 2006. Wohlfahrt Etude. Aldís. There are two kinds of bow directions. Down bow and up bow. Have you invented a third kind? Sideways?" –Emma quoting Mark "You've knocked on the wrong door. D-flat is D's neighbor." – Emma quoting Mark(5:40) The long-lasting value of Mark's practice techniques.  "Rhythm practice, double stop practice...staccato, martelé..." -AE "Yeah, that whole system– I teach that now to my students too." - Emma(6:13) Emma's students love her. "I just try to get them to love violin, but I actually think most of them – barring maybe 5 to 10 cause I've got about 50 kids – I think most of them just come to hang out with me, and talk to me about stuff that's going on at school. They just think that it's fun. But at the same time that's good too. Obviously we're still doing violin stuff. If you enjoy that part of your day it will translate into you liking the violin." - Emma(7:40) It's not all jolly fun, of course. Teaching 50 students can take a lot out of you.  "You get pretty tired quite quickly; it's a lot of energy. And you always have to be thinking ahead and if you're not really feeling it you have to act like you are." "But the kids usually make me feel better and they'll say something really funny. Sometimes I have to write them down without letting them see that I'm writing them down. Cause I know that I'll find it funny later." "Now I'm on my long break. No teaching until first of February. And I find that I really need that time. Kind of like your June-July." (9:47) This year isn't the year for a summer academy. But speaking of music academies, this year, and keeping in touch with old teachers... "Remember how he'd always say when his phone rang? 'Oh! Must be Bach!'" - AE [laughter] Mr. Mark would pretend his phone calls were from composers whose music we were playing during the lesson. "His phone was always ringing!"- Emma  "And then he'd answer in Russian and be like, 'Da, da. Horosho. Baka.' [more laughter] That's all the Russian I knew." - Emma(10:27) I asked her if she'd talked to Mr. Mark recently. "Yeah, actually, he asked me if I wanted to teach at Cremona this year." Cremona, Italy is where Mark and others have organized an International Music Academy for several years.My first recital at the music academy in Regensburg, Germany, 2009. PC: Emma.Cremona, Italy, 2013. "But then he sent me a funny email – you know how he is, and it was like: I don't think we'll be going to Cremona because of Corona, and I thought it was a joke but then I saw the news." Using the radiator as a music stand.(11:46) So things got real. But it didn't seem like it in the beginning. "I remember thinking nah it's gonna be fine. Nothing ever happens in New Zealand."(12:57) How New Zealand handled the COVID crisis – perks of being a kiwi? You get to live in an essentially COVID-free country! "Everyone did what we were supposed to do. People really care about each other and our country. And if you weren't doing what they're supposed to be doing, people would look at you like you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing."(13:30) After this conversation I have a lot of respect for the Prime Minister of New Zealand. "Our Prime Minister and government officials in NZ made it easy to follow rules at each level of lockdown. ... I kind of wish I was best friends with her. The other week I played a gig for the opening of Parliament, so I snuck a photo in."  "During lockdown level 4, which lasted 8 weeks, that's when I did all my online teaching. In the end sometimes I had a kid who was like kind of in the corner – and I just had to be like, ok, just keep going – and I'd only see the top of their head or their scroll." [laughter](15:20) Where do Emma's students get their violins?  There's this generic-type Paganini brand! It's decent. (Paganini: a virtuoso violinist and composer with huge hands who could play tenths like nobody's business and who was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil so he could achieve such mastery in his performances).A luthier in Cremona, showing how he painted varnish on the back of a violin.Recreating the scene in scratch art, 2014.(16:04) Story of the mysterious full-size violin and its surprise restoration value :) "So the mother who'd initially found this violin for $20 got it to put over her fireplace as a decoration. She might've even used it for firewood later, it being only $20. But she gave it to one of my students to see if she could play it. It looked like it had character. When they took it to get restored, turns out it was worth 4000 dollars! But the funny thing was it didn't come with a case, so when she brought it to lesson, its scroll was sticking out of one of those reusable shopping bags, just holding it like this." [laughter](18:42) Final anecdote and life-lesson quote coming full circle to the story of her first lesson with Mark Lakirovich:  "He asked me to do double stop scales the first lesson and I was like oh God... is he gonna be one of those teachers who's like, double stop scales! do this! do this! – but then I think he realized that I was gonna work hard and we were gonna get along. If you work hard but don't take things too seriously, it's fine, you know?" - EmmaAdorable video here where her students give her rave reviews. https://www.nzmusicteachers.co.nz/emma-colligan/ A big thank you to Emma Colligan for joining me in this amazing and humorous conversation. She's paving the way for these up and coming Kiwi rockstar violinists! And a big thank you to our beloved teacher Mark Lakirovich for teaching us all, his students.If you feel so inspired, reach out to someone who's made a big difference in your life, and thank them. Do it before it's too late. Not to be morbid, but who doesn't love to be appreciated and be able to savor it while they're alive and well?Thanks for tuning in or scrolling through. Stay well and take care :)Have a wonderful day,Aldís

{36 minute highlight to Spotify and Acast}Cameron Akker, a 2019 Electrical Engineering graduate from Harvard University, now works on global supply management for micro-mobility at Lyft. Occasionally, he also writes amazing articles on Medium. One is the basis for this episode! Check out his article, "Overcoming the Harvard Psyche" here: https://medium.com/@camakk/overcoming-the-harvard-psyche-b812f224e1ab. (0:30) Introducing Cameron! (1:04) What is the Harvard Psyche and how did you come up with the idea? (1:24) (20:08) How to overcome/deal with the Harvard psyche? (4:30) You defied the call to “specialize in one thing” with your experience taking 13+ courses by cross registering at MIT. (10:10) Let's talk about bandwidth – how did you manage? (14:03) Moving into career experiences, how’s it going with micro-mobility at Lyft? (16:24) Based on your experience, what is your advice for early graduates pursuing tech and project management? (25:22) What is the narrative behind your career arc? Universal access to education (25:40) (30:12) Ties back to how you structured your own education. Big proponent of self-education. (32:05) How to provide free access when everyone's so focused on making money? How to get around the homo economicus?(33:10) "That's the result of wanting to get your worth for what you put into it. My motives for doing this kind of thing is that I've been helped immensely by the free resources in everything I've tried to learn. It's much like the open source software community. If you're trying to implement something for your own project, you tap into the community knowledge database and can pull something from it, with the expectation that you'll give back at some point in the future." – Cameron Akker (34:03) Check out Superminds by MIT Professor Thomas Malone(34:17) "The future isn't going to be decided by a bunch of individuals. ... The shared intellect of a large variety of people might be the largest resource yet when it comes to progressing humanity. Think of Wikipedia. Very small ownership team, basically maintained by the same internet that uses it. So in the model of wikipedia, how can we have more of these types of platforms? ...enriching the society that engages with this material. I think that investing in education that is freely available is not pouring money into the void; it is pouring it into a society that then reflects that back, much in the way that something like wikipedia reflects that value back onto itself." – Cameron Akker (35:45) Super elucidating! Thank you!You rock, Cameron. Keep walking the talk!To you, dear Patron and listener – thank you for reading or listening, and have a fantastic day.Aldís

{Patron-only pre-release, now publicly available}Hey,I hope you all had a refreshing weekend.Exciting development over here – working on a super-quality trailer / wrap-up for the show! Collecting all the voices we've heard on the podcast, sifting through the layers of depth and meaning each conversation added to the idea of "Walking the Talk."I'm pouring a lot of heart into this one, and I just couldn't wait share it with you. Anyway it's almost mid-way through December. Close enough.This is a preview and work in progress. It's almost there.There's at least one more highlight to bring us to the close of the year (a beloved former violin teacher of mine who now teaches 50 students in New Zealand. Her name's Emma).I might rearrange voices and quotes accordingly.The title? Walk your talk.TranscriptI started this podcast to share stories and sources of inspiration along that well-worn cliché of accountability and integrity in what you stand for and how you approach your life’s work and relationships.Thanks to people who were willing to share their thoughts and personal stories, this show has grown into so much more. Today I want to give a big shout out to 24 highlights who’ve offered layers of depth and meaning about what it means to Walk the Talk.***It’s the way you go about asking life’s biggest questions – from everything that’s here on earth, to everything that’s out in space. Bob: having seen the effects of climate change first hand… Kamran: found myself reading about Woodrow Wilson, Aldís… Catherine: I’m focusing on ancient climate change... Shubham: I'm working the atmosphere of Venus. It's like a living hell for humans.It’s about how you approach your day to day, with grit and dedication. Aryn: one time I walked 60 blocks because the compost wasn’t where it usually was Daniel: get some sweat in, shower, and I’m ready to start my day… 6AM except SundaysIt’s about how you take care of yourself and others in times of need. William: When you do the white coat ceremony, you remember you’re really here to take care of people and patients. Adam: Everyone in my family is under my care of the longevity diet and I’m happy to report they’re doing quite well.How you find ways to be whole in a system that seeks to channel you in one way or another Assaad: I went back into ballroom dancing; there’s more to life than – at that point – law schoolAnd it’s about setting an example, whether or not others choose to follow it – by inspiring others to choose their own course of action on the causes they care about. Audrey: I have this whole stack of old t-shirts and a forever shortage of underwear, and I recently had the brilliant idea to just turn those darn t-shirts into underwear! Erik: I don’t want to compromise in the way I live my life, and so going electric feels like small way to say I’m committing to a better future. Sydney: Once you’ve committed for enough time, I’ve noticed that I don’t view animal products as food anymore. Shannon: That's a good example for my biology students because we talk about conservation and I’m running and biking and so simultaneously reducing my carbon footprint. [yay!] Gabrielle: It’s difficult to walk the talk if you don’t have people who’re going to check you. You need those friends who're going to say 'you said you weren't going to eat chicken today, why are you eating chicken?'It’s about stepping into your role as an authentic creator of whatever it is you do in your life. Asking how you can best apply yourself to problems that really matter, and what it is you truly want to pursue – not because someone says you should but because you want to. Aryn: What is a better way to plug in so that poverty isn’t criminalized? [ADD] Gabby: I have a poem to write and that’s ok [ADD] Stan: aerobus zero gravity experiments Sushen: going deep into a subject of interest ← insatiable curiosity [ADD/REPLACE] Peter: to address accessibility problems with AI Neil: because I started to realize that business is a good way to bring about changes that can be hard to make in the public or non-profit sector. [SHORTEN] Aldís: It's really a lifelong goal to be part of this climate movement and move the dial forward on solutions for the planet and its people Kamran: I always want to be a first an ideas person before I’m a technical or legal professional if you will Brabeeba: So actually I didn't have a specific concentration; I switched every year. [gasp!] Aryn: take everything that everyone says, and put it on paper - would this be fundamentally cool for me? [ADD]It’s about defining your identity (Peter, Kamran) and building relationships that enhance your life and tapping into your immense capacity to love many people in no particular order. Peter: I fall somewhere in the mushy middle of the spectrum [ADD] Sydney: Why not explore? [ADD] Peter: I have a lot of love for my metamour (~)Upending existing power structures in politics, law, the workforce; alleviating the visceral burden on people of color in a system that favors white. Kamran: All of these movements at their core are really about injustice and unjust power Gabrielle: When I do embody that power that I have as a Black femme, they don’t know what to do with it!It’s about having the tenacity to see your visions come to life through music, multimedia art, movement, everyday objects, physical canvas, digital media, and your writing. Emma: [ADD] Assaad: Just plugging along with my writer’s group; at the time of recording, I'm writing Chapter 7. Gustav: Essentially my life has been mostly about art. Nathan: We built this little device that can do digital contact tracing (for COVID) Cameron: We’re drawing from a ton of collective knowledge, enriching the hive mind, the collective...It’s about how your life may be an expression of your most radical and daring ideas when you have the courage to speak your mind and walk your talk. Sinwah: anytime I can earn money, but to chase my dream is something I can only do when I’m within (my) 20s.This podcast is a place where we openly explore these questions and your unique answers. What’s your talk, and how do you walk it?***I'll release the final version on Dec 31. Perfect for year's end :)In the meantime, I'll write you the 17th with the next highlight.Have a great week.Aldís

{27-minute highlight on Spotify and Acast}Dr. William Lo is a resident physician in radiation oncology in St. Louis, and MD-PhD graduate from Harvard Medical School. We talk about his journey into medicine (including recent experience on the COVID front line), engage in a rapid-fire round of personal questions, and top it off with career and relationship advice. (0:00) The lake where he took our call for this podcast (PC: William) (0:33) Introduction (1:08) How the residency program works and fits into the overall training program for doctors and physician-scientists (2:30) Recent experience with pediatric cancer cases, thinking about how to optimize radiation dosage to reduce recurrence rate and minimize potential long-term complications. (4:21) Connecting three dots getting to where he is today – from the Canadian Red Cross to summer classes (6:35) and a research program with the Princess Margaret Cancer Center (7:00) alongside an undergraduate computer engineering degree to personal experience with cancer care in the last year of medical school (7:44). (9:03) Being on COVID front line- what was that like?"All of a sudden, hospitals were filled with COVID patients. Overnight, some of the wards were turned into intensive care units [with beds for the patients], and nurses were told they're now ICU nurses and had to get trained really quickly." (9:40)"As a physician you remember your oath – you really are dedicating your life to the welfare of these patients. So this was really the time to walk the talk. We volunteered our time to cover for each other and take care of the patients." (10:48)"Imagine wearing an N-95 mask for 30 hour shifts." That's what it was like. (11:50) "The toughest part was figuring out how to let family members come in and say goodbye, when there was nothing else that could be done in the ICU." Coming up with ways for family members to visit in person with enough personal protective equipment (PPE) or virtually with iPads, thinking about tough end of life conversations and moments. (13:34) (16:15) Deciding whether to do rapid fire questions to lift the mood or dive into advice right away... went with rapid fire questions! (16:49) One thing everybody should know about maintaining their health – eat well, exercise, maintain mind body and spirit. (17:14) Most outlandish other career path you would pursue... pilot and astronaut! (18:12) Favorite thing to do in free time – drive around, take road trips, explore new places, (like the lake where he took my call). (18:50) One of your ultimate life questions, or something you've been thinking about recently."Being exposed to cancer care reveals how unpredictable life can be, so how can you really do everything that you love to do within the time you have, and do the best you can so that you don't regret it? How do you seize every opportunity to expand your horizons and do things you didn't think were possible?"  (20:02) Something somebody has said that made you feel awesome ... gratitude from cancer patients, especially with respect to how the care was provided. "It's the way you go about it, the way you explain things to people. People don't really remember how smart you are, until you show them how much you care about them as an individual, whether or not you are able to cure their disease."  (21:27) Three core values you strive to live by... #1 Integrity (true to your word and yourself), #2 Happiness (enjoy what you do), #3 Optimism (that things will be better) (22:34) Top advice for people who want to go into medicine (22:53) "Have the perseverance and dedication" to see it through. It's a long career path, but also really rewarding. We work very very long hours, especially during our training. There's a lot to learn and sometimes very little time to learn all of it. But this is a good time to go into medicine because things are transforming with telemedicine and using tech to overcome challenges associated with the pandemic." (25:07) Advice for relationships e.g. patients, family, or personal life. (25:28) "You can build the best relationships with people if you're really genuine about each interaction." (26:04) "You can build relationships with a lot of people, but you can also build very deep relationships with fewer people, but really meaningful ones. There's obviously a balance there." So, value your long-term deeper relationships, and remember the people who've helped you along the way. We're all standing on the shoulders of giants, as the saying goes.William's one of those people who's helped me along my journey as my freshman advisor in college. Thanks William, you rock! Keep walking the talk :)Have a wonderful day, and thanks for tuning in!Aldís

{22-minute highlight to Spotify and Acast}In this episode, Nathan Manohar shares theoretical concepts and practical projects from his computer science journey in cybersecurity and cryptography: from applications in secure genome analysis and software obfuscation to digital contact tracing for COVID. Nathan is a PhD candidate in computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. (0:10) In what ways do we encounter cybersecurity in our lives without really realizing it? (1:25) Key exchange (3:00) What questions guide your research? (4:20) Secure genome analysis (5:13) Functional encryption (6:03) Applications in software obfuscation (6:45) Super-schemes for security (7:32) Beyond or within your studies, what are you most passionate about? (7:56) Journey into cryptography, starting with Sherlock Holmes (9:33) World War II applications, the German Enigma machine, and U.S. Navaho code-talkers (10:04) Imitation Game (11:33) From theoretical to practical projects – digital contact tracing for COVID (12:42) Production (13:41) Signal strength for communication security (14:33) TLS as distinct from Bluetooth (15:16) Started in June (16:20) Collaborating with the health community to develop a secure digital contract tracing method for COVID (21:15) How many people need to have this device for this to be effective?"People have a hard time admitting that they're not experts in everything; you need the health people to admit that they don't know about computer security, but you need the computer security people to admit that they don't know about how contract tracing is done by the health community." – N. ManoharHope you enjoy this one!Have a great day,Aldís