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For more than sixty years, Ron Ruiz stuttered. It shaped his school years and kept him from flying for the airlines. Through decades of therapy, the advice he kept hearing was to accept it. Then, after he retired, Ron started learning the banjo, and that showed him firsthand that his brain could change. So at seventy, he took one more shot at his stutter. Nine months later, he says it's gone. In this conversation, Ron takes us inside the head of someone who stutters, including the moment he blocked at an airport ticket counter right after three weeks of intensive speech therapy. He walks us through the program that finally worked for him, and we talk about why that program has so much in common with what helps a musician play what they know when the pressure is on. Mentioned in this episode: Lee Lovett's Neuroscience Method to Stop Stuttering, the program Ron used: https://www.stopstutter.org/ How to Stop Stuttering and Love Speaking, by Lee Lovett (the book Ron mentions) Brainjo banjo courses, where Ron learned clawhammer: https://www.brainjo.academy/ More from Josh: The Genius and the Impostor (book): https://geniusandimpostor.com What's your Pressure Profile? Find out your type (free, 3 minutes): https://performanceneurology.institute/pressure-profile Institute for Performance Neurology: https://performanceneurology.institute Brains, Banjos and Beyond (Substack): https://joshturknett.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainjojosh   Music by Julienne Ellen.

Banjo player Bennett Sullivan was sure he'd ruined a Broadway show with one flubbed intro, and the research on how audiences actually hear our mistakes explains why almost nobody noticed. Links: Order the bookThe Genius and the Impostor at GeniusAndImpostor.com The full interview with Bennett Sulivan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4lvyXS6ek8 Instagram: @brainjojosh Theme Music composed by Julienne Ellen (@julienneellencomposes)

Bennett Sullivan has played banjo on Broadway, at the Grand Ole Opry, and on the Poker Face soundtrack. By any measure, he belongs on any stage. And for years, he couldn't convince himself of it. In this episode, Bennett is honest about the gap between what he's accomplished and how it's felt from the inside: the comparison that made him great and got in his way at the same time, the night on Broadway he was sure he'd ruined the show, and the shift that finally let him get out of his own way, which turned out to have almost nothing to do with the banjo. If you've ever been good at something and still felt like you were about to be found out, this one's for you. Links: Bennett's teaching site: https://banjolicks.com Order The Genius and the Impostor: GeniusAndImpostor.com  Bennett on Instagram: @thebennettsullivan Josh on Instagram: @brainjojosh

To get the "Genius Toolkit," head to GeniusAndImpostor.com.

Bryan Sutton is one of the best flatpickers alive, and like most great players, he'll tell you the guitar just came naturally to him. In this follow-up to my conversation with Bryan, I dig into what's really behind the making of a "natural," and what it means for you.  Links: Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor (out August 25): https://GeniusAndImpostor.com The full interview with Bryan Sutton: https://youtu.be/mF0MSRkrriM?si=oNmQxHoMon-UaRKT Instagram: @brainjojosh More at performanceneurology.institute

Bryan Sutton is a three-time Grammy winner and one of the most-recorded session guitarists in Nashville, with credits from Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift to Dolly Parton and Doc Watson. Yet, he's driven home from sessions convinced he'd never work in the town again. In this conversation we get into how he built his playing growing up immersed in the mountain music of Western North Carolina, why performing under pressure is a completely separate skill from playing well, and the mental shift he uses to get out of his own way. Links: Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor: GeniusAndImpostor.com  Take the Pressure Profile: PerformanceNeurology.institute/pressure-profile Bryan Sutton at ArtistWorks: ArtistWorks.com/Bryan-Sutton   Bryan on Instagram: @bryansutton28 Josh on Instagram: @brainjojosh

In this Genius Arc breakdown, Dr. Josh Turknett takes the story of Nelson Dellis — 6× USA Memory Champion and author of Everyday Genius — and runs it through the Genius and Impostor framework from his forthcoming book. You'll see how a man who says he "truly would have said my memory is average" built a championship-level skill from scratch, why five titles still couldn't stop his body from going into revolt before the sixth, and the reset that let him step on stage as "the most chill version of myself I've ever been." It's a clear, worked example of how capability is built, how pressure hijacks it, and how you get it back. Take the free Pressure Profile assessment (3 min): https://performanceneurology.institute/pressure-profile Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor: https://GeniusAndImpostor.com Read Brains, Banjos and Beyond: https://joshturknett.substack.com Nelson Dellis's book Everyday Genius: nelsondellis.com/everyday-genius Follow on Instagram: @brainjojosh Links:  Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor: GeniusAndImpostor.com Nelson's Instagram: @nelzor Josh's Instagram: @brainjojosh Music by Jullienne Ellen (@julienneellencomposes)

Nelson Dellis can memorize a shuffled deck of cards in under 30 seconds, and he's won the USA Memory Championship six times. But he didn't start with a special memory. He built it from scratch, and he's adamant that nobody wins a memory competition on natural talent. In this conversation we get into how he actually trains, how watching his grandmother's decline from Alzheimer's set him on this path, and what it would take for you to build a memory like his. Links:  Nelson Dellis's book Everyday Genius: nelsondellis.com/everyday-genius Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor: GeniusAndImpostor.com Nelson's Instagram: @nelzor Josh's Instagram: @brainjojosh Music by Jullienne Ellen (@julienneellencomposes)

Dr. Josh Turknett — neurologist and author of The Genius and the Impostor — introduces the show, the framework, and the two characters living inside your brain that determine whether you rise to the moment or fall apart. In this episode: What performance neurology is and how it differs from clinical neurology What's happening in your brain when you collapse under pressure Meet the Genius and the Impostor — two systems in your brain fighting for control What to expect from this podcast Links:  Pre-order The Genius and the Impostor (August 2026): GeniusAndImpostor.com Learn more about Performance Neurology at performanceneurology.institute Subscribe to the newsletter: Brains, Banjos and Beyond on Substack Instagram: @brainjojosh

For more on how to apply neuroscience to practice smarter, check out the book "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo" To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy

The book: "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo" To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy

For more on how to apply neuroscience to practice smarter, check out the book "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo"   To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy

For more on how to apply neuroscience to practice smarter, check out the book "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo"   To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy

For more on how to apply neuroscience to practice smarter, check out the book "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo"   To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy

For more on how to apply neuroscience to practice smarter, check out the book "Anyone Can Play Music: Unlock Your Musical Potential with the Laws of Brainjo"   To learn more about music courses based on The Brainjo Method, head to brainjo.academy