About

Hey, I'm Todd. I'm currently a Master's student in computer science at the University of Chicago, so my web presence will be a bit intermittent. In addition to doing my homework:

Before all that, I got a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Degree from University of Illinois — Urbana-Champaign. I briefly thought that I wanted to go into academia, but ended up touring regularly with bands instead for a few years.

Since then, I've accidentally stumbled into a career in the fitness industry.

I made this site as a place to "learn out loud" about a lot of seemingly disparate topics.

On my podcast, I interview academics, musicians, entrepreneurs, coaches, and athletes, and I try to unpack their mental models. I always get something out of the conversations, and I hope that others do as well.

I also recognize that my interests don't fit nicely into any of the content niches that I flirt with.

I wish the folks talking about entrepreneurship and self-improvement were more rigorous with their thinking and more interested in culture.

I wish musicians were more interested in improving themselves and getting things done.

I wish rationalists and academics were more concerned with practical application of their ideas.

I wish athletes and coaches were more skeptical of people making wild claims, and less into social media.

And, to be fair, all of these people probably have plenty of complaints about me!

Anyway, I also send out a weekly an intermittment while I'm in school newsletter with anything I've written or recorded, as well as some of the articles, podcasts, and music I've been enjoying.

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Recommended Songs

Every week in my newsletter, I recommend a song that I've been listening to. An email newsletter isn't always the best way to listen to music, so — after being asked a few times — I started compiling the songs that I recommend in this Spotify playlist. Check it out and follow along:

Writing Elsewhere

I've written guest posts and columns in a lot of places, mostly focused on fitnesss, entrepreneurship, and music. Here's where you can find my writing elsewhere:

Columns
Training Articles
Business Articles
Interviews
Music Reviews

Podcast Appearances

I've been fortunate enough to be invited onto some podcasts as a guest. Here are some of those appearances: