Episode 77: Dave Schipper, Outdoor Gear & Clothing Designer
The Nik Hawks Show
"For as long as I can remember, I've made things." Dave Schipper joins us to re-start the pod after I've taken a 5 year hiatus. Dave is a generally rad dude hailing from Moab, Utah, and if you've ever done anything even half-way hardcore in the great outdoors it's reasonably likely you've used a piece of gear he designed. We talk about the paraglider bag we worked on together as well as his experience as a designer & developer to bring the avalung-in-a-backpack into being as well as super lightweight backpacks for adventure racing. Dave can be found using his full (with the...
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Ep 76: Dr. Anne Andrews & Brain Chemistry
The Nik Hawks Show
Principle Investigator at the Anne Andrews Research Group at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
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Ep 75: Shannon Jay, Abalone Diver & Cat Rescuer
The Nik Hawks Show
From abalone hunter to national park service law enforcement to viral video cat rescuing star, Shannon Jay is the kind of guy you just love to sit down and listen to. A fantastic story teller, he is one of my favorite people to catch up with.
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Ep 74: Stanford Graham, A Fast Runner
The Nik Hawks Show
Stan Graham sticks out in any crowd. At 6'5" with a shock of white hair, he's a physical presence. He can also move that mass pretty quickly. In October of 2019 he's aiming for a world record for the 50 and over crowd. We talked about running a bit in the show, but went more deeply into his beliefs, how he got into running, and why he started Elements meals. A rad human with a story worth sharing. Enjoy!
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Ep 73: Scott Mann, Green Beret & Storyteller
The Nik Hawks Show
Scott Mann shares his journey from revenge-driven Green Beret "putting scalps on the barn" in Afghanistan to creative storyteller helping guide other veterans through the process of transitioning from the military to civilian life. Scott takes us through his career including why he turned down a military command opportunity 3 times: "I joined to be a Green Beret, not a Colonel". He tells us about his journey out of the military, how despite all his planning and outside stability he still started to flame out. Scott walks us through how Bo Eason, a former NFL player turned...
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Ep 72: Currents of the Earth, 1st draft
The Nik Hawks Show
Been working on this piece of writing for a while, thought I'd share one of the first drafts with you. As you'll hear, this comes from my experiences riding earth energy, would love to get your feedback on it. Rock on! For more info go to nikhawks.com -NFH
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Ep 71: Eric Bostrom, Motorcycles & Health
The Nik Hawks Show
After a chance meeting while coaching young athletes I stayed in touch with Eric Bostrom for two reasons. First, he had a clean energy. I know that sounds pretty damn woo-woo, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve just learned to trust my gut more when it comes to meeting people. Eric was soft spoken but from the moment I met him there was an obvious intensity to him. That leads to the second reason: He was a champion motorcycle racer. You don't get to be a champion by being unfocused, and God knows I love the folks who can dial in focus to the white hot intensity of a thousand burning...
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Ep 70: Brian Enos, Master of Awareness
The Nik Hawks Show
What does it take to shoot a pistol faster than pretty much anyone else in the world? Mastery over awareness and attention. Whether you're a pistol wizard or a paraglider pilot, this show goes deep into how to improve at anything you do.
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Ep 69: Lessons From A Failed Business
The Nik Hawks Show
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Ep 68: Jeff Shapiro & Falconry
The Nik Hawks Show
This is classic podcast material: A dive into a fascinating topic that you wouldn't normally hear about. is a well known climber, base jumper, wingsuit pilot, hang glider, and paraglider but for this show we focused on his passion for falconry. Jeff is a Master falconer and has been working with raptors since becoming an Apprentice 2000. We talk about how you get birds, how to train them, and about some of the peak experiences he's had hunting with falcons and one that he still hopes to have. Enjoy the show!
info_outline"The more we understand, the more rational we are and the more courageous we can be."
In this conversation with Prof. Dr. Chahan Yeretzian, a Syrian born Armenian physical chemist based out Switzerland, we dive deep into where the arenas of science, academia, industry, culture, and coffee meet.
From the advice he gives his students to why undergrads can't make good enough coffee, to the religion of freshness, this is a fascinating dive into a different world.
The elements of quality, the translation between measurements and sensory experience, the way that coffee is a cross cultural experience; all these and more are part of Chahan's world.
What will you hear if you listen in? I'm going to try something new, and just include the notes I typed down while editing. Please comment if these are useful, or email me if you'd rather I do your thinking for you.
Notes from a convo with Chahan:
Plenty of mysteries to solve in coffee.
“At the base, good coffee is a sensory experience.”
Sensory profiling vs Q grading .
What he likes (intensity, strong body, aroma), very taken with smells.
“One element of quality is consistency.”
A big field is predicting specific sensory attributes based on objective measurements.
“Fresh had become a religion, but not an understanding.”
The problem is that a lot of people still serve horrible coffee in the industry.
Practical and hands on experience that comes from work in industry vs academia.
“You go into Origin countries and you’re learning cultures [based] around your product, coffee.
“Coffee is a peace building product, a trust building event.”
Soluble or instant coffee, Sudden Coffee.
Q grading coffee.
Q grader and co-worker Marco Wellinger.
Q grader Gloria Pedroza.
Coffee shows the connectivity of the world.
A very important quality of roasting is…consistency, that you’re able to reproduce what you’re doing.
“How does the mineral content of the water affect extraction or flavor profile? We’re still scratching on the surface [of coffee].”
We’re looking into how CO2 affects storage, freshness, formation of crema, flavor, acidity notes; it’s like taking one small molecule and trying to get a more rational understanding [of it’s impact.]
Creativity based in understanding. Knowledge is freedom and helps people explore new facets of coffee.
“Coffee is just as much art as science.”
Mold & mycotoxins in coffee?
The three ways Chahan makes coffee:
-high dollar semi-automatic coffee machines via coffee experts
-filter (hand brewed, freshly ground)
-Single serve capsule
“At home I do filter coffee. I had a professional machine, but it takes too much space.”
What I don’t do is French press. Sometimes I do soluble coffee, sometimes I mix it with Nespresso.
The research that we do is quite high level, so to do good research on coffee, you can not just rely on undergrads.
[The people who make most of the coffee I drink are] highly experienced scientists and also very good in coffee preparation besides being scientists.
“How do you roast to increase sweetness, or fruitiness, or a particular flavor note? We have some understanding, but it’s far too little to have any control over the roasting process.”
Advice to students: Looking over the borders of where we are.
Traveling is vital.
Moving between academia and industry and the importance of experiencing both worlds.
Academia needs people who have industry experience.
The path from Knowledge - Execution - Community
Armenian from Aleppo.
Armenians have a strong feeling of community and family, strong drive to perform, we are pushed to be the best.
A lot of unconditional love from parents.
The importance of being competent before you do benevolent work. If you don’t have the competence then you’re wasting your time being benevolent.
Further interests: indoor air quality, wine, oakwood aging, 2 kids who are 21 months old.
How complexity evolves in our world and how it’s related to self-organization, how life appeared on the planet.
Aspect of self organizing complex systems.