Choose Your Perspective

Daniel Kramer

This podcast is focused on helping listeners choose their perspective in life. You don’t control everything that happens in your life, but you do control your perspective on any situation as well as how you respond to it.

  1. 23h ago

    Constantin Kogan: Choosing Perspective in Wartime and on Wall Street

    Daniel hosts Constantin Kogan, founder of Holistic Capital (a multi-strategy, multi-asset investment firm) and host of the "Holistic Investments" podcast. Constantin grew up in Kyiv, was active in the 2013–14 Maidan Revolution (he describes witnessing a sniper shoot students near him), and left Ukraine for the US shortly before the war escalated, landing in the New York/Jersey City area with his young family and no work authorization. He built his career from scratch — first in Ukrainian grain trading, then early-stage tech investing where he lost significant savings, before founding Holistic Capital, an algorithmic/quant trading firm. The throughline of the conversation is his "holistic" philosophy: that exceptional decision-making (in markets and in life) requires pairing quantitative rigor with self-awareness, humility, and controlling ego — drawing on his years studying Kabbalah and meditation. He talks candidly about turning down wealthy investors whose values don't align with his, why most day traders lose to institutional algos, and how gratitude (rooted in watching his home city get bombed while he's safe in the US) shapes his approach to money and risk. The episode closes on reflections on meaning, purpose, and podcasting itself — Constantin shares that his own podcast has grown to 650K+ followers and 100+ guests (including an upcoming episode with Edward Zuckerberg), and both hosts riff on doing the work for love of the process rather than the outcome.

  2. Jul 21

    Benjamin Freedland: From A Life of Crime To A Life of Purpose

    Benjamin Freedland has an unusual background that spans organized drug trafficking, federal cooperation, entrepreneurship, and law enforcement training. Freedland says he became involved in the East Coast drug trade as a mid-level trafficker, moving significant quantities of narcotics and operating within organized criminal networks. Unlike cartel leaders or kingpins, he describes himself as someone responsible for coordinating logistics, suppliers, transportation, and distribution rather than street-level sales. (Amazon Music) He has spoken about: How drug organizations are structured. Money laundering and operational security. How traffickers avoid detection. The culture of trust, fear, and reputation inside criminal organizations. Why many people enter the drug trade despite the risks. (Amazon Music) Eventually, federal investigators built a case against him. According to Freedland, he pleaded guilty to federal drug offenses and was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison. (Amazon Music) Rather than ending his involvement with law enforcement after sentencing, Freedland says he became a federally embedded confidential informant. He worked with agencies including: FBI U.S. Postal Inspection Service U.S. Attorney's Office (Amazon Music) His intelligence helped investigators: Identify members of drug trafficking organizations. Understand trafficking routes and criminal methods. Build cases that resulted in multiple federal indictments. (Amazon Music) His talks and interviews generally focus on: The realities of drug trafficking versus Hollywood portrayals. How informants are recruited and managed. Mistakes law enforcement agencies make when handling confidential sources. The importance of human intelligence alongside modern surveillance technologies. Personal accountability and rebuilding life after prison. (Amazon Music) Freedland presents his story as one of redemption rather than victimhood. He openly acknowledges his criminal past while arguing that his firsthand experience gives him credibility when training investigators. His message is that understanding how criminals think—and how confidential sources operate—can help law enforcement conduct safer and more effective investigations. (Amazon Music) Because much of the detailed narrative comes from Freedland himself in interviews and podcasts, it's worth distinguishing between publicly verifiable facts (such as his prison sentence, businesses, and public roles) and personal accounts (such as the specific scope of intelligence he provided or the number of investigations his cooperation influenced), which are not fully documented in public records.

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About

This podcast is focused on helping listeners choose their perspective in life. You don’t control everything that happens in your life, but you do control your perspective on any situation as well as how you respond to it.