FLAME with Brad Hook

Bradley Hook
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

FLAME (formerly Brad Hook Podcast) — warm conversations, bright ideas. A space for the curious, exploring what it actually means to be fully alive: how we think, connect, adapt, and find meaning in a world that's changing faster than we can feel. Episodes span psychology, neuroscience, creativity, leadership, and wisdom traditions — sometimes with guests, sometimes just honest reflections from the road. Always grounded. Always human. Hosted by Brad Hook, author of Start With Values (Penguin Random House, 2025) and creator of the FLAME method: flame.live

  1. 5d ago

    The Navy SEAL Playbook: Don Mann on Grit, Goals, and Leadership

    Don Mann spent 21 years in the Navy SEAL Teams, retiring from SEAL Team Six, then another 25 as a CIA contractor. He is a New York Times bestselling author, host of the TV series Surviving Mann, and a veteran of more than 1,000 endurance events, including a double Ironman he finished after passing out at mile 32 of the run. In this conversation with Brad Hook, he describes the combat mindset that got him through a night dive with no oxygen, the leaders who taught him to leave ego at the door, and the four daily habits from his new book, Navy SEAL Playbook, that he offers to anyone who wants more from their life. He is also frank about what twenty years of continuous war has done to the people who fought it, why the wars being fought today keep him up at night, and why he now puts being a good person ahead of being a warrior. Why most people set their goals too low, and how to choose a macro goal and micro-goal your way upFour daily rules: get stronger, get faster, get smarter, and do something good for somebodyLeading without ego, from the SEAL Team Six leader who made every man on the team feel neededVisualize it worse than it will be: the mental practice that got Don through BUD/S Get the book: https://navysealplaybook.com/the-navy-seal-playbook-don-mann Connect with Don: https://www.usfrogmann.com Connect with Brad: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookhttps://flame.livehttps://bradleyhook.comhttps://values.institute

  2. Aug 20

    The Second Adulthood: Why Midlife Is an Awakening, Not a Crisis

    What happens when the striving that built your career stops working? Fabrice Desmarescaux, McKinsey partner, leader of Aberkyn in Southeast Asia and author of The Art of Retreats, joins Brad to explore the "second adulthood": the unnamed life stage that begins around 45, when raw problem-solving gives way to wisdom, judgment and the ability to hold paradox. Drawing on decades of coaching CEOs and C-suite teams, Fabrice explains why control doesn't scale, why midlife is an awakening rather than a crisis, and why silence, solitude and stillness are the most underrated leadership tools of all. A warm, quietly radical conversation about presence, letting go, and finding your new game. In this episode: Fluid intelligence peaks in your 30s, but crystallized intelligence keeps growing into your 70s and 80sWhy senior leadership is an adaptive challenge: influence, nudging and holding space instead of controlThe lost rites of passage, and why we need elders to guide life's biggest transitionsHow to build a retreat into a busy day through silence, solitude and disconnection Get The Art of Retreats: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Retreats-Leaders-Journey-Clarity/dp/1544526369Fabrice's website: https://www.desmarescaux.comFabrice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabrice-desmarescaux Connect with Brad:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhookAttend a live experience: https://flame.liveDiscover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.comValues Institute: https://values.institute

  3. Aug 10

    Seven Marathons, Seven Continents, One Week — with Ellen Hunter Gans

    Ellen Hunter Gans is a writer, 41-time marathoner, Ironman triathlete, and the first person with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. In this conversation she takes us inside the Great World Race — from a packed-snow course in Antarctica's White Desert to a heat-index scorcher in Cartagena — complete with a venomous spider bite, a stolen wallet, and a plane once used by the Rolling Stones. Along the way she shares the stories behind her new book, Seven Marathons: lung cancer survivors running with one lung, a Welsh firefighter racing in full kit, and elite women choosing collaboration over world records. It's a warm, funny, and quietly profound look at resilience, shared purpose, and why the time to chase your big goals is now. Camaraderie is a performance tool: research shows shared struggle literally reduces the experience of painTreat big goals as commitments, not options — sign up first, then figure out howRest matters: Ellen qualified for Boston by running less, not more (three focused runs a week)If not now, when? Don't wait for a diagnosis or a deadline to do the thing Get the book: https://sevenmarathonsbook.com Connect with Brad Hook:https://www.instagram.com/bradhookhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhook Explore more:https://flame.livehttps://bradleyhook.comhttps://values.institute

  4. Jul 29

    Train Your Emotions Like a Skill: Joey Klein on the Inner Game of Mastery

    Joey Klein is the founder and CEO of Inner Matrix Systems and the author of The Inner Matrix and Relationship Alchemy. After a near-death experience at 19 pulled him out of a destructive lifestyle, he spent two decades blending ancient wisdom traditions, psychology, and neuroscience into a practical system for personal mastery — one he has now taught to more than 90,000 people, from Fortune 500 executives to professional athletes. In this conversation, Joey and Brad explore why lasting change starts with the nervous system rather than the mind, and how emotional mastery can be trained like any other skill. Why you can't think your way out of anxiety: regulate the nervous system first, manage emotion second, then train the mindThe three emotional competencies: awareness, switching off fear, and switching on love-based statesA simple morning check-in and four-sided breathing practice you can start todayThe four steps behind every real transformation Free for FLAME listeners — both of Joey's books plus a complimentary training session with a certified IMS trainer:https://joeyklein.com/flamepodcast Follow Joey:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeyKleinIMSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealjoeyklein/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeyklein/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeyKleinIMS/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialjoeyklein Connect with Brad:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhook Attend a live experience: https://flame.liveDiscover Brad's work: https://bradleyhook.comValues Institute: https://values.institute

  5. Jul 4

    Why AI Is Creating an Identity Crisis

    In this episode, psychologist and bestselling author Fiona Murden explores why identity—not skills—may be our greatest challenge in the age of AI. We discuss resilience, identity coherence, storytelling, parenting, leadership, and why understanding who you are is becoming one of the most important human capabilities. In this episode: Why AI is creating an identity crisisIdentity by osmosis and the people who shape usHow leaders create certainty through storytellingRaising children with a stronger sense of selfThe connection between identity and resiliencePractical ways to better understand yourself Connect with Fiona:Website: https://www.fionamurden.com/Substack (Still Human): https://fionamurden.substack.com/about

  6. Jun 24

    Your Family Is the Most Important Team You'll Ever Lead

    Most entrepreneurs pour relentless intention into their business and then wing it at home. Ann Sheu thinks that's backwards. She makes the case that your family is the most important team you'll ever lead, and shows how the same clarity, values, and rhythms that build great companies can build connected, resilient families. We get into values as the real foundation of a relationship, the "decade dream" and why a five-year-old can set one, weekly Family Alignment Meetings (FAMs), the difference between alignment and agreement, and why most money fights are really values fights. Ann also shares the one question that should ground every hard conversation: did your partner leave it feeling seen, heard, understood, and safe? About AnnAnn Sheu is a leadership coach, entrepreneur, and mother of four, and the founder of Mpowered Journey. She helps high-performing couples bring the clarity, alignment, and intentionality from their businesses into their family life, building stronger communication, shared expectations, and simple rhythms that reduce friction at home. What we explore Why values work has to come first, for each individual and then for the coupleThe "decade dream": one number that captures a whole vision (2,000 free days, 500 new experiences, 100 date nights abroad)Family Alignment Meetings, and how to run your family like its leadership teamAlignment over agreement, and why healthy couples still fight"Seen, heard, understood, and safe" as the real winning criteria in any disagreementHow values clarity dissolves most money and time conflictsConnect with Ann https://www.mpoweredjourney.com https://www.mpoweredjourney.com/know-thyself https://www.mpoweredjourney.com/foundations-preview https://www.instagram.com/mpoweredjourney https://www.linkedin.com/company/mpowered-journey Meet the host, Brad Hook, here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bradleyhook.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bradhook X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bradleyhook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhook

  7. Jun 18

    Your Voice Is a Mansion. Most People Live in One Closet.

    What if the voice you use every day is only a fraction of what's available to you? Voice coach, author, and performer Barbara McAfee says most of us live in "a tiny closet in a great big mansion" when it comes to our voice. We settle into one small corner of it and never realize how much more is there. In this conversation, Barbara shares the framework at the heart of her work: five distinct voices, each with its own sound and purpose. Earth for authority and gravitas. Fire for passion and public speaking. Water for the heart and hard conversations. Metal for cutting through noise without strain. Air for imagination and story. Learning to move between them, she explains, is the difference between a flat communicator and a compelling one. We talk about why so many people decide they "can't sing," why Barbara believes singing is a human right, and how vocal range shapes leadership, storytelling, confidence, presence, and well-being. She also introduces the idea behind her new book, Vocal Intelligence, and why it matters now. Whether you're a leader, speaker, coach, parent, educator, or simply someone who wants to express themselves more fully, this episode will change how you think about your voice. In this conversation: • The five voices, and what each one is for• Why most of us work only a small corner of our range• How great storytellers use vocal variety to hold an audience• Why Barbara believes singing is one of the most human things we do• Practical ways to build vocal presence and avoid strain• Why the voice you like least often holds the most for you• The thinking behind her new book, Vocal Intelligence Barbara closes by reading a Hafiz poem about "the astonishing light of your being," and that alone is worth staying for. Connect with Barbara McAfeeWebsite: https://www.barbaramcafee.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mcafeemusicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbaramcafeesings/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.mcafeeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaramcafee/ TEDx: Bringing Your Full Voice to Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze763kgrWGgTEDx: How Oral Tradition Singing Helps Us Work & Live Better Together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrRQulQnaoQ BooksVocal Intelligence: Leading with Vitality, Presence, and Impact https://www.amazon.com/dp/1722507381Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence https://www.amazon.com/Full-Voice-Practice-Presence-Business/dp/1605099228 Connect with BradLive Workshops & Seminars: https://bradleyhook.com/flame-method/Discover Your Values: https://values.institute/values-app/Website: https://bradleyhook.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleyhook/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradhook/Latest Book, Start With Values: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/start-with-values-9781961293106

  8. Jun 12

    The Science of Sleep, Aging, and Living Better for Longer

    What if sleeping too much is almost as bad for you as sleeping too little? Brad sits down with Dr Junhao (Hao) Wen, Assistant Professor of Radiology, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, whose latest research in Nature maps how sleep duration shapes biological aging across 23 organ systems. They get into what a biological aging clock actually is, why both short and long sleep speed up aging, and why the much-quoted "sweet spot" of 6.4 to 7.8 hours is a starting framework rather than a rule. Hao explains why long sleep may be a warning light rather than a cause, how the optimal range differs for women and men, and what all of this means for anyone trying to sleep better without spiraling into sleep-score anxiety. A grounded, practical conversation about sleep, longevity, and staying human in the age of AI-driven medicine. Study referenced: Sleep chart of biological aging clocks in middle and late life (Nature, 2026) — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10524-5

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About

FLAME (formerly Brad Hook Podcast) — warm conversations, bright ideas. A space for the curious, exploring what it actually means to be fully alive: how we think, connect, adapt, and find meaning in a world that's changing faster than we can feel. Episodes span psychology, neuroscience, creativity, leadership, and wisdom traditions — sometimes with guests, sometimes just honest reflections from the road. Always grounded. Always human. Hosted by Brad Hook, author of Start With Values (Penguin Random House, 2025) and creator of the FLAME method: flame.live

Information

  • Creator
    Bradley Hook
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    123
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Bradley Hook
  • Show Website
    FLAME with Brad Hook