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The Tim Ferriss Show

#445: Janna Levin on Extra Dimensions, Time Travel, and How to Overcome Boots in the Face

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

Lifestyle Design, Business, The 4-hour Workweek, Productivity, Timothy Ferriss Show, Startups, Tim Ferris, Entrepreneurship, Longform Interviews, Tools Of Titans, Timothy Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show, Tim Ferriss

4.617.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2020

⏱️ 117 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Janna Levin on Extra Dimensions, Time Travel, and How to Overcome Boots in the Face | Brought to you by Allform and LinkedIn Jobs.

“I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, ‘If only that hadn’t happened life would be so good.’ Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path.” — Janna Levin

Janna Levin (@jannalevin) is the Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. Janna is also director of sciences at Pioneer Works, a cultural center dedicated to experimentation, education, and production across disciplines, as well as Pioneer Works’ virtual home The Broadcast.

Janna’s books include How the Universe Got Its Spots and the novel A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which won the PEN/Bingham Prize. In 2012, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant awarded to those “who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship.” Her last book, Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, is the inside story on the discovery of the century: the sound of spacetime ringing from the collision of two black holes over a billion years ago. Her new book, Black Hole Survival Guide, is scheduled for publication near the end of 2020.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by AllformIf you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They just launched a new company called Allform, and they’re making premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.

Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa, check out Allform.com/TIM. Allform is offering 20% off all orders to you, my dear listeners, at Allform.com/TIM.

This episode is also brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.

Using LinkedIn’s active community of more than 690 million professionals worldwide, LinkedIn Jobs can help you find and hire the right person faster. When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. You can pay what you want and get the first $50 off. Just visit LinkedIn.com/TIM.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

optimal minimal

0:02.0

at this altitude i can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking

0:06.3

can i ask you a question?

0:08.3

now i just sit in the perfect time

0:10.6

what's i do the opposite?

0:12.1

i'm a cyber nanny organism living this show on metal impulse go on

0:15.8

lead to ferris show

0:24.3

this episode is brought to you by all form

0:26.6

if you've been listening to this podcast for a while

0:28.4

you've probably heard me talk about helix sleep and their mattresses which i've been using since 2017

0:33.7

i have two of them upstairs from where i'm sitting at this moment

0:37.4

and now helix has gone beyond the bedroom and started making sofas they just launched a new

0:42.0

company called all form a l l f o r m and they're making premium customizable sofas and chairs

0:47.6

shipped right to your door at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores so i'm sitting in my

0:52.0

living room right now and it's entirely all form furniture i've got two chairs i've got an

0:57.2

ottoman and i have an l sectional couch and i'll come back to that you can pick your fabric

1:03.2

they're all spills stained and scratch resistant the sofa color the color of the legs the sofa

1:08.1

size the shape to make sure it's perfect for you in your home also all form arrives in just three

1:12.9

to seven days and you can assemble it all yourself in a few minutes no tools needed i was

1:17.6

quite astonished by how modular and easy these things fit together kind of like lego pieces they've

1:22.4

got armchairs love seats all the way up to an eight seat sectional so there's something for

1:26.3

everyone you can also start small and kind of build on top of it if you want to get a smaller

...

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