Better Perspectives with Omar Shaker

EP15. Race and Identity | How do we face our demons? w/ Hatim El Tayeb 🇸🇩🇪🇬🇿🇦

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What happens when we excavate our race/identities and the demons that they carry?
Hatim El Tayeb, CEO and Ex-Dean of the African Leadership Academy, tackles his identities as a Sudanese who grew up in Oman and Egypt, studied in Boston and now living in South Africa.
We’ll cover our journey in uncovering out identities, and reflect back on our relationship in high school and how far we have come on these topics.
We quickly realize that opening up some of these old conversations is a major opportunity to own up to our ignorance, and celebrate what we have learned about ourselves since.
Show notes and links
Identities in Sudan: The History Behind Sudan’s Identity Crisis
How reading fiction can make you a better person.

EP14. Men and Sex | How do the words Erectile Dysfunction shape our mind? w/Mostafa Fayek and Khaled Sallam

We’ve all been there. Everyman, no matter big or small, healthy or sick, young or old - has realized, one way or another, that his penis can defy his brain’s directions.
What happens when we listen to our dicks not working versus try to “fix” them, as we do with everything else?
Two of my longest standing friends from high school and I, take turns to share three stories from our early twenties, where we first experienced the dreaded penis-not-working syndrome for different reasons.
This is followed by a raw roundtable Q&A that produced an honest conversation.
I guarantee you. You will not hear anything of the sort anywhere else.
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Leave a comment or email me us at thegumpcast@gmail.com or if you just reply to this email if you are already subscribed.
We want to hear your stories. Send them. 
Show notes and links
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance [Philosophy Novel]
Stress-Induced Erectile Dysfunction: Personal and professional stress, such as relationship trouble, is the main reason for ED in middle-aged men. [Healthline Article]
Porn-induced Erectile Dysfunction: It is hard to prove outright that pornography causes ED, but these testimonies replicate findings from the clinical literature: that if men can kick their porn habit, they start to recover their ability to become aroused by real-life intimacy. [The Guardian]
Full list of drugs known to cause Erectile Dysfunction [WebMD] 
Practicing and Measuring Self Compassion
 

EP13. Gender - How Do We Balance the Masculine and Feminine? w/ Sumaya Holdijk 🇳🇱🇸🇾

Why does talking about gender feel complicated these days? Is there an imbalance between our Masculine and Feminine? Sumaya Holdijk, massage therapist, birthing doula and self-described space holder, shares her stories about sexual harassment in Egypt, and the practices she has learned over the years to come more into her power.
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Show notes and links:
Chi Nei Tsung (Abdominal Massage)
Family Constellations Bert Hellinger
Victim hero villain triangle
Anima and Animus Carl Jung
The Multi Orgasmic Man Mantak Chia

Ep12. Nationalism - Can it be a force of peace? w/ Omar Dajani 🇺🇸🇵🇸

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How much do you understand your national background? What is your relationship with your local environment? And what kind of ideologies move you without realizing?
We’re back! We start Season 2 with a deep and delicious discussion around our relationship to nations.
My guest Omar Dajani, is an American Palestinian law professor, and this is his story about how a college debate opened him up to explore his Middle Eastern origins, and took him on a journey to become part of the Negotiations Support Unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the late ninteis.
In this episode we tackle:
The experience of being a dual national, and how nations are intertwined with our imagination.
The complexities of nationalism and the many ways it shapes our world.
We ask: Is nationalism always bad? If not, can it actually propel us forward?
The Palestinian occupation, and the grim reality of how far we’ve come from the end of the nineties. Is there any hope? What does it look like?
White nationalism in America, and how a lonely world is driving people to look for more structure. Are we at risk of a fascism?
The power of the local, and why talking to those who trigger us is critical to humanity.
About Omar Dajani:
Omar lives in San Francisco and is a Professor of Law at the University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law. He grew up in Texas, and lived for a long time in Palestine where has been part of the Negotiations Support Unit
Things we mentioned (and further reading!)
What makes you Antifragile?
An Ode to Heartbreak: A book of poems and meditations, on losing relationships, nations and friendships.
The Palestinian First Intifadah
Imagined Communities: Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson
What Makes a Nation? By Ernest Renan
Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
A Land for All: The Two States, One Homeland initiative
The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That's Pulling Apart by Noreena Hertz
If you liked this, stay tuned for the upcoming weeks, we will release some more short soundbites from this episode!
On behalf of the Gumpcast team,
Thanks for listening!
Omar Shaker

Ep11.Feel Your Feelings (and don‘t be a victim) w/ Atta Pilram 🇮🇷🇺🇸

Are emotions a distraction from the rational? Or is it really our superpower as humans?
On our season finale, we are joined by our friend and honorary grandfather (and Omar’s honorary grandson), Atta Pilram. Atta shares with us his own journey on learning about his emotions, through family, business, and especially in his art. Omar and Pilram take a deep dive into creativity and the importance of emotional intelligence in our ever-transforming world.
This episode covers:
How it felt growing up in Iran, and the many ups and downs of Atta’s life.
How feeling into your emotions can be a healing experience.
Creativity and its pursuit.
The limiting nature of making yourself a victim.
These are all covered through Atta's plethora of stories and imagery, as he reflects on his whole life from a 5 year old kid to a 68 year old grandpa.
Sit back, relax, and reflect. What is your relationship to this world of emotions?

Ep10. Finding Dad in Me w/ Dr. George Kist 🇪🇬 🇺🇸

Would you bring on one of your parents to be a guest on your podcast? Well, we did just that! Paul invites his dad, Dr. George Kist, to join him on a very special episode where they discuss their relationship.
In this episode they cover:
Immigration, and the risk of leaving it all behind
Assimilation and identity in the diaspora of ones’ homeland
The relationship between fathers and sons
And the experiences that helped mend their relationship
Have you ever thought you are more like your parents than you want to admit? Join us as our host discovers this very thing in conversation with the man that raised him. And pour yourself a glass of Trader Joe’s Secco, while you’re at it.

Ep09. Innocent Manifestations of Testosterone, w/ Anonymous

Have you ever had an experience of breaking out of your own status quo? Often times breaking free is met with resistance. How have you dealt with this kind of confrontation?
Our anonymous guest shares his own adventures with resisting convention and authority in order to carve his own path. He has had to confront the institutions of education, family and the law and through these experiences he forged a philosophy conflict: when it has a purpose, and when it’s fruitless.
In this episode we cover:
Our guest’s experiences and adventures through his life
Psychedelics and its role in the altering of perception
A look at the current state of affairs, and the impact of greed and unchecked power on our world
How can we break free from what binds us in purposeful, life affirming ways? What makes conflict virtuous?
Sit back, pour your favorite beverage, and join us for this very important and candid conversation!

Ep08. Slay The Dragon (and find your path) w/ Jean Marie Stratigos 🇫🇷 🇬🇷

Every hero’s journey has a dragon. Have you met yours yet? Sometimes our dragons do not appear in places we expect. How about our own genomes?
In this episode we are joined by Jean Marie Stratigos, PhD. Jean Marie is a Social Anthropologist and until very recently has worked for the UN as a humanitarian officer.
In this episode we cover:
Jean Marie’s foray into the world of Etioanalysis.
We traverse the topic of generational trauma and epigenetics
And we touch upon an untouchable topic: our own shame
This is the dragon in every hero’s journey. Spoiler alert: That Dragon is You.
You learn more at www.etioanalysis.com or contact Jean Marie Stratigos PhD at jmstratigos@etioanalysis.com.