The guest
Kevin Rose: Kevin Rose with Tim Ferriss
What this episode covers
In this Random Show episode, Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose riff over drinks about "affordable luxuries" and the small things that deliver outsized value, starting with the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch. Tim opens up about turning his CØCKPUNCH project into a creative-director playground and signing his first-ever writing collaboration, while exploring accelerated TMS brain stimulation for OCD. They dig into fiction and poetry recommendations, cold-therapy gear, supplements, and skincare. The episode closes with Kevin's investing takes on bonds, Nvidia, AMD, and Nintendo, plus practical travel tips like Google Fi for international data.
Recommended on this episode
ProductRecommended
Domaine Tempier Bandol 2021
Domaine Tempier
“it's fantastic. It's really nice”
“It was recommended to me, actually bought for me by a friend... and it's fantastic. It's really nice.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
MoonSwatch (Omega x Swatch Speedmaster)
Omega x Swatch
“looks amazing... such a fun watch”
“the actual collaboration looks amazing. It looks just like the Speedmaster... It's such a fun watch.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Descript
Descript
“some great tools out there... we have also tested and used”
“there are some great tools out there that can interact with transcripts that we have also tested and used in the past, like Descript.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics
Dennis O'Neil
“incredibly useful... The writing itself is spectacular”
“I found it incredibly useful and also hilarious. The writing itself is spectacular. I thought it was spectacular.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Stories of Your Life and Others
Ted Chiang
“absurdly, absurdly good... my starting point”
“he's absurdly, absurdly good... So Ted Chiang for science fiction would be my starting point.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss
“fucking incredible... completely blew his mind”
“The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which is fucking incredible... It completely blew his mind.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
“usually my trainer... I'll usually break them in with”
“is usually my trainer for people who are non-fiction purists... I'll usually break them in with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
The Blade Itself
Joe Abercrombie
“really fun... really, really, really good”
“I'm in the middle of listening to The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, and it is really fun. It is really, really, really good.”— Tim Ferriss
MediaRecommended
Give Yourself Permission to Be Creative (TED Talk)
Ethan Hawke
“so good and so powerful. I really, really recommend everybody check it out”
“it is so good and so powerful. I really, really recommend everybody check it out.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Somnee
Somnee
“definitely check that out... Matt was impressed with the result”
“you wear it 15 minutes before you go to sleep, and it's supposed to just really improve your sleep quality... So definitely check that out.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
friend.tech
friend.tech
“worth people just kicking the tires on it”
“It's a fascinating social experiment. I don't know where it's going to go, but I think it's worth people just kicking the tires on it.”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommended
Gold
Haleh Liza Gafori
“reread now multiple times”
“I also have reread now multiple times this collection of newly translated Rumi, called Gold, by Haleh Liza Gafori.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Night Sky with Exit Wounds
Ocean Vuong
“I read his first book, which blew my mind... I was so impressed”
“I was so impressed... it still put me into the cosmic philosophical washing machine and fucked me up.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Japanese Death Poems
Yoel Hoffmann
“It's fantastic... it's fucking amazing”
“There's a book called Japanese Death Poems. It's fantastic.”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Three Simple Lines
Natalie Goldberg
“it's fantastic. It's a really good book”
“She has a book called Three Simple Lines, which is about haiku and it's fantastic. It's a really good book.”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Writing Down the Bones
Natalie Goldberg
“That is a great book. Great book”
“Writing Down the Bones. That is a great book. Great book.”— Tim Ferriss
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Chiyo-ni: Woman Haiku Master
Patricia Donegan and Yoshie Ishibashi
“definitely worth picking up”
“it's Chiyo-ni: Woman Haiku Master. That's the one I purchased... definitely worth picking up.”— Kevin Rose
BookRecommendedISBN verified
Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History
Dan Flores
“It's a fascinating book. It's really, really interesting”
“It's a fascinating book. It's really, really interesting... It was a good book. It was a good book.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Great Lakes Collagen
Great Lakes
“a brand that Rhonda takes, I'm a fan of”
“Great Lakes, no affiliation, a brand that Rhonda takes, I'm a fan of.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Brodo bone broth
Brodo
“The best broth... It's my go-to broth. Brodo is fantastic”
“The best broth, kills everything on the shelves... It's my go-to broth. Brodo is fantastic.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Aesop hand sanitizer
Aesop
“they smell amazing”
“They make little tiny baby hand sanitizers now. And they smell amazing.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Kre-Alkalyn (buffered creatine)
NOW Sports
“it eliminated all my stomach issues”
“It's buffered creatine. Dude, it eliminated all my stomach issues... it's done by NOW Sports.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Cold Pod
The Cold Pod
“I've been really impressed with this thing... it's been a game changer for me”
“I've been really impressed with this thing... And it's been a game changer for me.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Bellwether coffee roaster
Bellwether
“I've been very impressed with their consistency”
“The lowest carbon imprint coffee that you can purchase... I've been very impressed with their consistency.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
OneSkin
OneSkin
“I'm pretty impressed”
“I'm three months in and I'm starting to notice little tiny changes just in skin quality and less bumpiness... in general, I'm pretty impressed.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
ProMix protein
ProMix
“Attia's favorite protein... insanely, insanely clean”
“this is Attia's favorite protein... it's just insanely, insanely clean. Grass fed, hormone-free cows, minimally processed.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Toshiba Low-Carb Rice Cooker (fuzzy logic)
Toshiba
“I thought was pretty awesome... I couldn't tell the difference”
“It cuts the carbs by 37 percent reduction in carbohydrate... It does not spike me nearly as much as the full rice.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Boodles gin
Boodles
“I like the less botanical gins. So I'll do a Boodles”
“I like the less botanical gins. So I'll do a Boodles or something that's just less botanical.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Airalo
Airalo
“the easiest, most reliable approach that I've found”
“for cellular data overseas. And it is the easiest, most reliable approach that I've found to cellular data overseas.”— Tim Ferriss
ProductRecommended
Google Fi
“Google Fi is just insane... the cheapest... It's great, man”
“Google Fi is just insane because internationally they give you coverage in just so many countries... Their data plans are the cheapest that are out there.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
VUSXX (Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund)
Vanguard
“the Vanguard fund that I use... I think it's a no-brainer”
“VUSXX is the Vanguard fund that I use, and I think it's a no-brainer in that it's a hundred percent treasury-based.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Nvidia stock (NVDA)
Nvidia
“the dominant player in this space... I hold some”
“Nvidia is the dominant player in this space... I think long-term it's going to be a $3 trillion company.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
AMD stock (AMD)
AMD
“I think AMD is a good cheap play”
“I think AMD is a good cheap play for this... AMD is way cheaper than Nvidia right now.”— Kevin Rose
ProductRecommended
Nintendo stock (NTDOY)
Nintendo
“a nibble for me is Nintendo... could be interesting”
“a nibble for me is Nintendo... There's a lot of IP locked up there in Nintendo. I think that that could be interesting.”— Kevin Rose
MediaRecommended
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Illumination/Nintendo
“Amazing movie”
“Super Mario Bros. Second highest box office sales of all animated films. The Super Mario Bros. Amazing movie.”— Kevin Rose
The guest's own work
ProductBy the guest
Maui Nui Venison
Maui Nui Venison
“bone broth from axis deer from Maui, which is from Maui Nui Venison... the collagen and protein levels are fucking bananas.”— Kevin Rose
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
ProductReferenced
Omega Speedmaster
Omega
“the most popular watch in the world for watch nerds... the most recognizable watch, would be the Speedmaster, which is the watch that was worn to the Moon.”— Kevin Rose
MediaReferenced
Arrival
Denis Villeneuve
“The movie Arrival was based on one of his short stories. I mean, the guy is so, so fantastic.”— Tim Ferriss
BookReferenced
Devotions
Mary Oliver
“I've been delving back into Mary Oliver. I read her collection, Devotions.”— Tim Ferriss
BookReferencedISBN verified
Dream Work
Mary Oliver
“I recently bought a small collection called Dream Work, which I haven't finished. So in disclosure, if you read it and you hate it...”— Tim Ferriss
BookReferencedISBN verified
Time Is a Mother
Ocean Vuong
“this particular poet, I have not read this yet, but you can see this, it says Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong.”— Tim Ferriss
BookReferencedISBN verified
The Sound of Water
Sam Hamill
“So I bought a book called The Sound of Water. And then that led me to the Japanese Death Poems.”— Kevin Rose
ProductReferenced
Yeti cooler
Yeti
“And I ended up buying a Yeti cooler to store ice in. So I have a few days of ice.”— Tim Ferriss
Big reveals from this episode
- Tim's "affordable luxuries" framing anchors the show: getting maximum value and satisfaction out of low-dollar items, exemplified by the $250-290 MoonSwatch that mimics the iconic Omega Speedmaster.
- Tim reveals a four-day creative sprint with writers and concept artists (D&D, Magic: The Gathering veterans) building out the CØCKPUNCH world, embracing a creative-director role for the first time.
- Tim announces he just signed his first-ever writing collaboration agreement for his first book in six years, a tactical nonfiction work done with a co-author.
- Tim discloses he was diagnosed with moderate/severe OCD and is exploring accelerated TMS brain stimulation (SAINT/SNT protocol from Stanford's Nolan Williams).
- Kevin walks through friend.tech, a crypto app tokenizing people via a bonding curve, where he's earned almost three ETH in royalties from people trading his "keys."
- Tim confesses a "disaster pants" story: after two double espressos, magnesium, and a huge dose of creatine, he soiled himself driving to the airport and flew 12 hours in economy with no underwear.
- Kevin shares an AI investing thesis: Nvidia going to $3 trillion, AMD as a cheaper play (hampered by software stack), and Facebook/Google sitting on undisclosed AI capabilities.
Worth remembering
- The Swatch Group is the world's largest watch company, employing about 36,000 people in 50 countries and owning Omega.
- Neil Armstrong used the Speedmaster's chronograph to time propulsion and jet releases during the moon landing, with no computer to do it.
- Accelerated TMS in the SAINT protocol involves roughly 8.5-10 minutes of stimulation every hour, 10 hours a day, for five days, totaling 50 sessions in five days.
- Tim and Paul Stamets jointly issued a challenge grant to help the Amazon Conservation Team buy historically indigenous land to return to Colombian tribes including the Kogi.
- Haiku master Fukuda Chiyo-ni, born in 1703, began writing haiku at seven and was famous all over Japan by age 17, rare for a woman of her era.
- Coyotes increase their litter size under threat as an evolutionary adaptation, helping them survive humanity's most systematic extermination attempt.
- Maui Nui axis deer bone broth has collagen and protein levels so high people assume the lab reports contain errors.
- Toshiba's "fuzzy logic" low-carb rice cooker uses a draining basket to remove starchy water, cutting carbohydrates by about 37 percent.
- Google Fi covers over 200 international destinations, runs mainly on T-Mobile in the US, and protects your number from SIM swaps via Google account login.
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