Today on the podcast, I’m talking with my friend David Ridley-Parris, a coach who helps people navigate life’s biggest transitions and design careers that truly align with their identity.

After years on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, David left the corporate grind for a slower-paced life in Portugal and a new calling in grief coaching. In this episode, he shares how personal loss shaped his path, why grief coaching is about envisioning the future, and how AI, group coaching, and community are transforming his practice.

🔑 Key Points

• Why David left Wall Street and Silicon Valley to start anew in Portugal.

• David’s coaching philosophy: strategic questioning for self-discovery.

• Grief coaching as a forward-looking practice — beyond therapy’s clinical lens.

• The concepts of liminal space, primary loss, and secondary loss.

• Insights from working with global clients and the LGBTQ+ community.

• Group coaching: peer accountability, confidentiality, and shared growth.

• How AI tools enhance coaching through summaries and action tracking.

• Professional growth opportunities and the forthcoming Grief Coaching Network.

  
  

• Connect with David on LinkedIn

• Navigate Your Path Forward: David’s website

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In this episode of Chiwi Journal, two AI hosts take you on a deeply personal journey across continents, from Shandong to Auckland, London to Lisbon, as they share Camellia’s story of moving 20,000 miles and confronting an invisible tiger she’d been running from her entire life: her own ambition.

Together, they explore the weight of cultural expectations, the silent pressure of “neijuan”, and the bittersweet lessons Portugal taught about slowing down, letting go, and simply being human.

This is a story about identity, burnout, and the quiet permission to exist without constant achievement, and maybe, it’s about finding your own way to stop running too.
NOTE: This episode was created using Notebook LM to transform Camellia’s original article into a podcast-style narration. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing for more reflections on life, culture, and creativity.

You once asked me: Are you still searching for home?

In this episode, I try to answer you.

It’s not a guidebook to Lisbon.

It’s a voice memo from a night tram.

A letter from a café table.

A footnote scrawled under a fado song.

If you’ve ever felt like an outsider, or longed for a place that doesn’t quite exist — maybe, like me, you’ll find something in this city that gently holds your questions, without rushing to answer them.

In this conversation, Björn Öeste discusses the Darksun.is project, an AI agent designed to explore esoteric knowledge and connect disparate ideas. The project includes a meme coin and aims to enrich the marketplace of ideas by uncovering suppressed knowledge.

Björn Öeste shared the significance of the #binary meme, the role of the AI agent Holmes, and the importance of community engagement through gamification content. He also touches on decentralized archaeology and the collaborative nature of the project, highlighting the team's dynamics and future plans.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:

• darksun.is
• Follow Björn Ö
• Follow Mitch
• The Network School events
• Why I created darksun
• Nemesis Star Theory: The Sun's 'Death Star' Companion
• Robert Sutton Harrington
• Michael Saylor
• Nemesis Star Theory w/Neil deGrasse Tyson
• The Three-Body Problem
• The Network School

INTRO

My guests today are Mili and Neter, my classmates from the Network School. In this episode, we reflect on our experiences so far, dive into some exciting ideas from our lectures and discussions, and share our personal journeys in crypto and beyond. Whether you're curious about the Network School or the future of decentralised living, this episode has something for you.

WE DISCUSSED:

• Two months in: Our lives at the Network School and daily routines
• Highlights from student-led events and how AI can help you understand yourself better
• Guest speaker insights and Balaji's thought-provoking lectures
• Pop-up cities and the concept of network state nodes
• How we entered the world of crypto and Bitcoin hitting $100K
• Our plans for life after finishing the Network School

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:

• The Network School
• The Network State
• The Network School events
• My First Million Podcast with Ryan Peterson
• Vitalik Buterin's website
• Inside Network School X Thread
• Zuzalu City

Intro

My guests today are Berkeley Wanner and Sterlin Lujan. In this episode, we discussed their journeys into cryptocurrency, the influence of Balaji's ideas, and their experiences within the Network School.

Timeline

00:00 Introduction to Network School and Guests

02:50 Philosophical Foundations of Cryptocurrency

06:39 Experiences with Balaji's Ideas

10:07 Application Process for Network School

13:49 Daily Life and Structure at Network School

34:47 Expectations and Future of Network School

39:57 Advice for Future Network Schoolers

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:

• The Network School
• Follow Berkeley Wanner
• Follow Sterlin Lujan
• A Newsletter That Pays You

• Timothy C. May: Libertaria in Cyberspace
• Blueprint Bryan Johnson
• Lu.ma
• Toastmasters
• Counter Governance Substack
• The Network State
• Praxis Gets $525 Million in Commitments for Planned ‘Heroic’ City
• Zuzalu City
• H.L. Mencken
• Burning Man