Media Appearances Through The Years
MEDIA APPEARANCES OF STERLING COOLEY
Since the world of the Vagus Nerve has gotten more and more popular over the past decade, our founder, Sterling Cooley, has been called upon more and more to appear and speak about his work — both on the science of the nerve itself and on the technology and protocols he has developed for stimulating it.
Below you will find a curated set of those Media Appearances, going from the more recent interviews back to some of the earliest demos Sterling gave on the Vagus Nerve and on focused ultrasound stimulation.
Mind you, he truly believes in taking a Client First approach. So when he's not on a podcast or being interviewed, he prefers to be working behind the scenes with the program's clientele on the actual Vagus Nerve Stimulation & Repair process. The interviews are a way to get the ideas out into the world; the day-to-day work with people is where the real ideas were forged in the first place.
WHAT THESE INTERVIEWS COVER
Across these conversations you'll get a fairly complete picture of our model: the anatomy and evolutionary background of the vagus nerve, the case for ultrasound stimulation as a non-invasive frontier modality, the practical breath and voice work that anyone can start with at home, and the clinical patterns we've seen working with hundreds of people over the years. Different hosts pull on different threads, so even if you've heard one or two of these, the others tend to surface material the previous interviewers never got to.
PODCAST APPEARANCES AND INTERVIEWS
You will see the appearances here from some of the more recent down to some of the earliest interviews Sterling gave on the Vagus Nerve. Each entry includes a short note on what was covered, so you can pick the ones most relevant to your interests.
Sterling Cooley on the Singularity Podcast — Video — San Francisco, CA 2019
A wide-ranging conversation about the future of human longevity, neurotechnology, and the role the vagus nerve will likely play in the next generation of personalized health interventions. Recorded in San Francisco at the height of the early Singularity / transhumanism movement, this one is more philosophical than clinical.
Sterling Cooley on the East Meets West Summit — Video — Seattle, WA 2022
A talk delivered at a multi-day summit focused on integrating Eastern contemplative practices with Western functional medicine. Sterling lays out the case for treating breathwork, humming, and somatic exercises as legitimate medical interventions that affect measurable biomarkers — not just "wellness."
Sterling Cooley on the Parasympathetic Summit — Video — Palo Alto, CA 2020
A more clinical presentation given to an audience of practitioners. This one goes deep on parasympathetic physiology, why most modern people are stuck in chronic sympathetic dominance, and the specific protocol order we recommend for repairing it. Useful for somatic therapists, integrative MDs, and coaches.
Sterling Cooley, CEO of Berkeley Ultrasound Company — Demo Presentation — San Francisco, CA 2015
One of the earliest public talks Sterling gave, back when he was running Berkeley Ultrasound. This presentation walks through the original engineering rationale for using focused ultrasound as a neuromodulation tool — including a live hardware demo. A fascinating watch for anyone curious about where the company's technology actually came from.
Sterling Cooley on the Health Upgrade Podcast — Podcast — Online 2023
A more recent and very practical interview aimed at a general health-optimization audience. Lots of "what would you do today if you were just starting" type questions, and a candid section on the supplements and devices Sterling actually uses himself.
Sterling Cooley on the Jiu Jitsu Outlet — Video — Online 2023
An unexpected favorite. This interview was recorded for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu audience interested in recovery, breath training under pressure, and nervous-system performance. The host asks unusually sharp questions, and the resulting conversation gets into some of the best practical advice for athletes anywhere in the catalogue.
WHERE TO START IF YOU'RE NEW
If you've never heard Sterling speak before, the order we recommend is this:
- Start with the Health Upgrade Podcast (2023). It's the most accessible, most practical entry point — minimal jargon, lots of "do this on Monday" advice.
- Then watch the Parasympathetic Summit (2020). This is where the underlying clinical model gets explained more completely.
- Finally, the 2015 Berkeley Ultrasound demo. By that point you'll have enough context for the engineering side to be genuinely interesting rather than abstract.
The other interviews are excellent, but those three together will give you the cleanest mental model in the shortest amount of time.
SUMMARY
We appreciate you checking out our Media Appearances! There are certainly a few more scattered around the internet — guest spots on smaller shows, conference panels, the occasional radio interview — but the set above is a good enough representation to help you get to know us a little better through the work.
If you would like to learn more about our work with actual clients, and the kinds of results you can expect to see from implementing a proper VNS routine into your health journey, you can click the button below to visit our Testimonials page. The interviews are the theory; the testimonials are the practice.
Click Here to See Video Testimonials from Clients of the VNS & Repair Program