Alex Mullen is a 3-time world memory champion, doctor and co-founder of Mullen Memory. To give you a sense of what being a memory athlete means: Alex is the first person to memorize the order of a deck of playing cards in under 20 seconds and the first to memorize more than 3,000 decimal digits in one hour.
We talk about memory palaces, Alex’s brain, and Mullen Memory, a company he started with his wife Cathy to teach people memory techniques for everyday use. By picking apart how Alex memorizes things, I got a deeper sense of how important visualization and stories are to remembering. At multiple times in the conversation, Alex mentions that he didn't have a good memory before being a memory athlete -- that his success is attributable to his growth mindset and hard work. It's a reminder for us all that we're capable of things we may not be able to imagine.
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"Game of Life Podcast" is produced by Sophia Deng; visuals by Alonzo Felix; music is from Anchor.
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Timestamps
(01:02) How Alex got into memory competitions
(06:28) Memory palaces and other memory systems used
(21:38) Training for memory competitions
(26:04) Drawing from psychology vs. neuroscience with Alex's practice: deliberate practice, growth mindset
(35:41) Why start Mullen Memory?
(43:25) 2 final questions
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Alex's recommendations
"Feats of memory anyone can do" (TED talk that got Alex into memory competitions)
Moonwalking with Einstein (Book)