In this weekly conversation, Sunny Ray catches up with his regular co-host Miles on the state of the world, Bitcoin, and personal productivity systems. Miles opens by sharing that his in-laws recently evacuated Israel through Jordan during the escalating conflict, and that he is about to embark on months of travel with his family, first accompanying his pastor father-in-law through the US and Mexico, then settling in Argentina. The pair reflect on the difficulty of forming confident opinions about Middle East politics and discuss the idea of pendulums, energy-draining forces from the book Transurfing Reality, as a way to stay emotionally grounded amid global chaos. The conversation turns to Bitcoin's surprising 8 percent rally during the crisis and evidence of Iranians moving coins off exchanges to preserve wealth, alongside the story of a Venezuelan friend who built a billion-dollar Bitcoin lending business after being persecuted by his government. The back half dives into Obsidian, Roam Research, and how integrating Claude Code with years of personal notes is transforming how Miles thinks, plans, and uncovers insights about his own life and goals.
Miles opens up on Bitcoin as a lifeline in crisis, his AI-powered second brain, and staying grounded amid global chaos.
How has your week been?
It's been really good. The weather in the UK finally turned after a horrible January and February, and now it feels like spring with the daffodils up. It makes such a big difference to everyone. So yeah, I'm doing good, bro.
You're coming to the US next week? What's going on with that?
I'm traveling in the US for a bit with my wife's father, who's a pastor and speaker doing conferences, then we go down to Mexico and Argentina. My wife and kids will meet us later, and after that we're staying on in Argentina for a couple of months while I'm basically being a buddy to my father-in-law.
What happened with your in-laws in Israel?
They were in Israel last week and had to drive across the border into Jordan to get out. They weren't scared at all, they were super chill, had a lovely meal in Jordan and caught pretty much the only flight back to the UK. If they'd been there a day earlier or later they'd still be stuck.
If we're watching this ten years from now, what do you think the status of the world will look like right now?
We had dinner with a friend writing his PhD on Arab-Jewish history who speaks Arabic and has lived in Jordan, and he said if you think you understand Middle East politics, you haven't been explained it properly. It's too complicated to predict, and I'm wary of anyone giving super confident takes on how good or bad this all is.
What do you make of Bitcoin popping about 8 percent this week?
It's unusual because Bitcoin normally drops first when a crisis like this hits. It stayed flat over the weekend then jumped about 8 percent. There's also a chart showing Bitcoin moving off exchanges in Iran, spiking right after their internet shutdown ended, which shows people there moving money into cold storage to protect their wealth.
How did that connect to why you started podcasting?
I have a friend named Mauricio who is from Venezuela and was persecuted by the government years ago. He went on to build a company holding over a billion dollars in Bitcoin-backed loans. Hearing his story is what got me into podcasting, realizing it's not about me, it's about all these Bitcoin stories that get buried that people should know about.
Can you lay out what Obsidian is and how you'd suggest getting started?
I've used a similar tool called Roam Research for five or six years and recently migrated to Obsidian. Think of it as a second brain, a networked system for every idea, quote, or tweet you capture, instead of ideas being stuck in isolated folders like Apple Notes. You link ideas with double brackets, and over time everything connects like your brain actually works.
How has connecting Claude Code to your notes changed things for you?
It has years of my notes, so I can ask it things like what my top ideas have been over five years, or feed it my goals and ask how to get there. It told me I'm doing everything right except one thing, publishing something I'm learning every day instead of keeping it in isolated calls. That gave me shivers, it's next level.
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