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PODCAST

English Plus Podcast

Welcome to English Plus with Danny — your one-stop podcast for lifelong learning.Whether you’re here to improve your English or explore a wide range of fascinating topics — from language and life skills to original stories by Danny — this podcast is your gateway to learning and creativity.Never stop learning… or creating.🎧 Unlock full access on Apple Podcasts or Patreon.🌐 Visit englishpluspodcast.com for articles, deep dives, and exclusive content.

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All Episodes

72:16

MagTalk | The Brain on Poverty: How Scarcity Taxes...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/23

Ever felt so stressed about money that you couldn't think straight? Science shows that's not just a feeling—it's a measurable reality. New research reveals that the chronic stress of poverty acts like a "bandwidth tax" on the brain, reducing cognitive performance by as much as losing a full night's sleep. This hidden burden impacts everything from memory to self-control, making it incredibly difficult to make the "good decisions" needed to escape the poverty trap. This isn't about willpower; it's

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16:01

The Scarcity Trap 4 | Forging a Path Out: The...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/23

After three episodes examining the mechanics of the scarcity trap, we make a deliberate turn toward the light. This episode is not about what poverty does to people, but what people do in the face of it. Host Danny goes in search of the psychological tools for escape. We redefine "resilience" not as bouncing back, but as the capacity to navigate chronic adversity. Discover the three essential psychological assets that make this possible: Agency: How shifting from an external to an internal "locus of

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9:20

TOL | Beyond the Bottom Line: What Do We Truly Owe...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

We know that reducing poverty is good for the economy. But is that the real reason we should care? In this episode, we're setting aside the spreadsheets and ROI calculations to ask a much bigger question: what do we, as human beings, truly owe one another? We'll explore the difference between charity and justice, dive into a mind-bending philosophical idea called the "veil of ignorance," and argue that the ultimate reason to build a better world isn't about the bottom line, but about honoring our

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10:28

TOL | The Myth of the Starving Artist: Does Scarcity...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

Is suffering really a prerequisite for great art? We've all heard the stories of broke geniuses creating masterpieces in drafty attics. But is the starving artist myth just a convenient excuse to underpay and undervalue creative people? In this episode, we'll explore the critical difference between helpful constraints and the soul-crushing anxiety of true scarcity. We'll talk about the "bandwidth tax" on creativity and ask a tough question: how much brilliant art is the world losing simply because

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54:56

MagTalk | Innovating Our Way Out: The Unconventional...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

For decades, fighting poverty meant one thing: charity. But what if there's a better way? What if instead of just giving aid, we invest in people's potential? A new wave of innovation is doing just that. From tiny loans that launch businesses (microfinance) to using the simple mobile phone as a digital bank, the game is changing. We're even testing the radical idea of giving people cash with no strings attached (UBI) and finding they use it to build better lives. Our latest article explores these

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60:02

MagTalk | The Hidden Blueprint: How Global Systems...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

We often think of poverty as a local problem. But what if the biggest obstacles are invisible rules written into the global system? Imagine a race where some runners are forced to start a mile behind everyone else. That's the legacy of colonialism. Imagine a market where your biggest competitor gets billions from their government, making it impossible to compete. That's the reality of agricultural subsidies. Our latest article explores the "blueprint of scarcity"—the historical and economic systems

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15:07

The Scarcity Trap 3 | The Weight of the Gaze: Shame,...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

So far, we've focused on what scarcity does to the mind. Now, we explore what it does to the heart. Host Danny investigates the profound emotional burdens of poverty, moving from the cognitive to the social experience. We begin with the concept of "relative deprivation"—the constant, painful awareness of what you don't have in a world that never stops showing it to you. Through the story of a young boy at a school "Spirit Day," we feel the sting of social comparison and the formation of shame. We

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16:42

The Scarcity Trap 2 | The Tunnel: A Day in a Mind...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/22

Building on the concept of the "bandwidth tax" from our last episode, we now move from the scientific study into the lived, daily experience of a mind under siege. Host Danny walks you through a minute-by-minute account of a morning filled with high-stakes calculations that most of us never have to make. This episode introduces "tunneling," the powerful psychological phenomenon where scarcity forces our focus to narrow dramatically onto the immediate crisis, pushing everything else—from long-term

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20:28

The Scarcity Trap 1 | The Myth of Bad Choices: How...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/20

In the first episode of The Scarcity Trap, host Danny challenges the comfortable but dangerous myth that poverty is a personal failing. We begin by dissecting the quiet judgments we make in the grocery store line and confront the "bootstrap" narrative head-on. Then, we journey to the sugarcane fields of rural India to uncover a landmark study that flips our understanding of poverty on its head. Learn how researchers discovered that the mental strain of scarcity imposes a massive "bandwidth tax" on

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30:32

MagTalk | The Many Faces of Poverty: Why Income Is...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/20

We think we know what poverty looks like, but what if the number in a person's bank account is one of the least important parts of the story? A family earning $3 a day might seem fine, but what if they have no clean water, no local school, and no healthcare? Our latest article dives deep into "multidimensional poverty," exploring how the real story of hardship is told not in dollars, but in access to opportunity and a dignified life. This will change the way you think about one of the world's most

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12:56

TOL | The Grammar of Judgment: How We Build Poverty's...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/20

What's the real difference between a "handout" and a "lifeline"? Between an "entitlement" and an "investment"? It’s more than just semantics. In this episode, we're diving deep into the grammar of judgment—the subtle, everyday words that construct the very walls of poverty. We'll explore how our vocabulary creates a moral hierarchy of need, allowing us to judge from a comfortable distance. This isn't an abstract debate; the link between language and poverty has real-world consequences for real

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2:29

Poverty | Theme of the Week

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/20

Learn about what we're going to talk about this week and our special theme for this week, poverty.

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18:56

Critical Thinking 5 | Critical Thinking in the Age of...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/10

Artificial Intelligence has gone from science fiction to a daily utility. It writes our emails, assists our research, and answers our questions. But what is this powerful new tool doing to our ability to think for ourselves? Are we outsourcing our critical thinking muscles, leading to a future of intellectual laziness? Or can AI become the ultimate partner for the human mind?In the final episode of our series, we tackle one of the most urgent questions of our time. We’ll have a clear-eyed

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9:33

TOL | The Freedom of Saying "I Don't Know"

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/09

When did "I don't know" become the three scariest words in the English language? In a culture that rewards hot takes and absolute certainty, this episode is a quiet meditation on the most underappreciated phrase we have. We'll explore the profound intellectual and emotional freedom that comes from admitting we don't have all the answers. This is an argument for embracing the intellectual humility that fuels all true learning, a call to rediscover the childlike wonder that turns the world from a test

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22:09

Critical Thinking 4 | The Enemy Within: How Cognitive...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/09

Why do smart people believe irrational things? Why do we cling to our beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence? The biggest obstacle to critical thinking isn't always "out there"—it's inside our own heads. Our brains are hardwired with mental shortcuts, or cognitive biases, that once helped us survive but now lead to systematic errors in judgment.In this episode, we turn the magnifying glass inward. We're going on an expedition to confront the saboteurs in our own minds. By understanding

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12:16

TOL | The Ghost of My Former Opinions

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/08

This is a personal one. We’re going to talk about the ghosts that haunt us—not the spooky kind, but the ghosts of our former opinions. I'm sharing a story about a belief I once held with my entire being, a belief that defined me, and the slow, difficult, and beautiful process of realizing I was wrong. It’s an intimate look at the relationship between our beliefs and our identity, the ego-crushing humility of being wrong, and the profound liberation that comes from changing your mind. This isn't

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23:44

Critical Thinking 3 | Your Critical Thinking Toolkit:...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/08

Knowing how to spot a bad argument is one thing, but how do you build a good one? What practical tools can you use to solve stubborn problems, generate innovative ideas, and make better decisions in your work and life? It's time to move from defense to offense.This episode is a hands-on workshop where we open up the Critical Thinking Toolkit. We're moving past theory and giving you five powerful, versatile mental models—a Swiss Army knife for your brain—that have been used by everyone from Toyota

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12:48

TOL | How to Be Right All the Time (Without Ever...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/07

Are you exhausted by the tedious process of forming well-reasoned opinions? Do facts get in the way of your triumphant declarations? Then this episode is the masterclass you've been waiting for. We present a foolproof, satirical guide on how to win any argument, every single time, without the burdensome effort of actual thought. You'll learn the five sacred pillars of argumentative invincibility, from weaponizing your own confidence to mastering the art of the elegant (and not-so-elegant) personal

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21:46

Critical Thinking 2 | Intellectual Self-Defense: A...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/07

Have you ever listened to an argument and felt that something was wrong, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it? You're not alone. Persuasive rhetoric often uses well-known tricks—intellectual sleights-of-hand called logical fallacies—to bypass your reasoning and win you over with flawed logic.In this episode, we go on the offensive. Consider this your first lesson in intellectual Jiu-Jitsu. We will expose the dark arts of persuasion by creating a field guide to the most common logical

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13:36

TOL | The Beautiful, Terrible Burden of a Questioning...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/06

Have you ever wished you could just "unsee" the flaw in an argument and enjoy a conversation? This episode is a deep, reflective monologue on the paradox of possessing a questioning mind. We'll explore that thrilling moment of clarity when you see through the noise, and the profound, often lonely, ache that follows when you realize not everyone sees—or wants to see—the same thing. It's a look at the emotional cost of being the one who always asks "why," the frustration of watching people you love

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