All-Time Greatest Podcasts

Hello my friends, today my guest is Akshay Nanavati – author of Fearvana: The Revolutionary Science of How to Turn Fear into Health, Wealth, and Happiness. In this book, Akshay defines Fearvana as the bliss that results from engaging our fears to pursue our own worthy struggle. Akshay has lived in Bombay, Bangalore, Singapore, Austin, and Eden Prairie, Minnesota because, hey, why not? So in this interview he shares his experiences, what he’s done with his life, including joining the Marine Corps, where he spent time sweeping in front of vehicle convoys to find explosives. He’s skydived, mountain biked, scuba...

Brian is the founder and CEO of several companies, including 1-800-GOT-JUNK but also a high school and a college dropout. Regardless he has built what has become a nearly half a billion-dollar group of companies. In his book WTF?! (Willing To Fail: How Failure Can Be Your Key to Success, Brian talks about passion and if you don’t know exactly what you’re passionate about, how to approach finding your passion or not bothering and just making a commitment instead. If you have an entrepreneurial bone in your body, I think you’ll enjoy this conversation with Brian.

In this episode my guest is AJ Jacobs – author, journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig. AJ has written four New York Times bestsellers, with his writing combining memoir, science, humor, and a dash of self help. His genre immersion journalism, has also been called stunt journalism, where he goes deep into a particular topic or experience and then writes about it (sometimes for years). His most recent book and the one that we explore most in this interview is, Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey, where he endeavors to thank everyone who was involved in making his morning cup...

Erwan Le Corre is the acknowledged founder and leader of the concept of Natural Movement. He’s been called one of the fittest men in the world and a fitness visionary by Men’s Health magazine. Born in France, he grew up with a black and white TV, no remote, no video games, no personal computers and no internet. His father encouraged him to run, crawl, climb, and jump. He was introduced to karate at 15 years old which taught him discipline, method, and commitment. At 19, he’d been training for seven years in both natural and urban settings. At 27, he...

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” David Burkus was named one of the world’s top business thought leaders by Thinkers 50 and he’s a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. In this episode David shares about the idea that networking is not necessarily about making new connections, but it’s about understanding the network you’re already in and making new connections as part of that. We talk about weak ties, dormant ties, how most of us allow our networks to grow organically, but David says we shouldn’t. And as we get into the writing and the creativity...

Michael Bungay Stainer is founder and CEO of Box of Crayons and author of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever. He’s also written Do More Great Work: Stop the Busy Work, Start the Work that Matters. He is also a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University and was the first Canadian coach of the year in 2006. Box of Crayons is a company that helps organizations do less good work and more great work. Michael is a teacher of 10 minute coaching, to help busy managers and leaders build stronger teams and get...

Today my guest is Mark Thompson – The World’s #1 CEO Coach, a title that he inherited from Marshall Goldsmith, our friend and mentor. Mark is in the MG 100 with me (the Marshall Goldsmith 100). He’s a leader inside that group, a member of 50 Thinkers, and he is also the coach to some of the top leaders in business. Some of his clients include CEO and cofounder Logan Green, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, the CEO of the World Bank Jim Kim, Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, Charles Schwab, and Steve Jobs. He’s one of these people that seems to...

Dan Brule is author of Breathwork: A 3-Week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm, and Better Health. Dan is a modern-day teacher, healer, and a world-renowned pioneer in this field of breathwork. Dan is awesome. He has spent four decades traveling the world, learning what he can from anybody who knows about breathing techniques that he didn’t know about. He’s putting them into this book. I’m so grateful to him for coming on this show and I’m grateful to you for listening. So please enjoy this conversation with Dan Brule and may your life never be the same, in a...

James is the author of Stuffocation: Why we’ve had enough of stuff and need experience more than ever, which he published in 2013. In this conversation we explore ideas in his new book, Time and How to Spend it: The Seven Rules for Richer, Happier Days, which was published this year in 2019. I think this is a very timely book because as James asserts, we have more free time than ever – and he quantifies that. There’s some scientific research, quite a lot of it in this book actually, but he shows how even though we have more free...

Donald was born in Irvine, Scotland, and became an expert on the relationship between modern cognitive behavioral therapy and classical Greek and Roman philosophy. His most recent book is called How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius published this year in 2019. Part of what I love so much is that he brings to life these figures from antiquity, from ancient history, and helps us understand who they were, how they lived, and what lessons they have for us that are still relevant. In fact, maybe more timely than ever. I hope that you...

Wally Hines is the Director of Standards for JETPUBS Inc. His background includes a B.S. in Aeronautical Studies from the University of North Dakota, followed by various flying positions. He has flown for two regional airlines and, since 1996, has been a pilot for Sun Country Airlines. He has been at JETPUBS since 2001 and is one of its founders. JETPUBS provides manuals services and training materials to over 400 airlines and training centers worldwide. Wally discusses the writing process for his yet to be released book on fighting against false accusations from the government and his years-long battle to...

Today my guest is Commander Mark Divine. His nickname when he was in the Navy SEALs, was Cyborg. In his class of 185 participants, he was number one of those 19 that graduated. He’s unquestionably a leader and a warrior who teaches other leaders and warriors. Mark has written The Way Of The SEAL, Kokoro Yoga, Unbeatable Mind, and 8 Weeks to SEALFIT. In this episode we talk about how to transmute desire into certainty, how to achieve peace and contentment, how to live one day, one lifetime as a philosophy. You’ll hear from a man in this interview who...

Ian Manuel is a truly inspiring soul. He’s a spoken word poet who’s messages is the impossible is obtainable. When I first met Ian, he said, “God has given me the gift to compose words in ways that move people.” He had plenty of time to practice cultivating that gift while he spent a 26 year prison sentence, 18 consecutive years in solitary confinement, for a crime he committed at 13 years old. He received life in prison without the possibility of parole. In this interview, we talk about the crime that landed him there. We talk about this idea...

My guest is Scott Harrison. Scott is the founder and CEO of charity:water. He’s also the author of a book called Thirst: A Story of Redemption, compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World. Scott describes himself in this interview as having become at one point in his life early on, the most degenerate, hedonistic, sycophantic person that he knew. What is so awesome about Scott and his story is the fact that it is possible to change, and you’ll hear his transformation from a nightclub promoter and a party promoter. The more effective he was at...

Today my guest is Adam Piore, author of The Body Builders, Inside the Science of the Engineered Human. This is a fascinating book that explores the cutting edge of science and technology as it relates to the human body. Adam is an award-winning journalist based in New York. If there’s one thing that you take away from this interview, perhaps it’s this idea that we all have things we can be better at. It’s easy to look at somebody who’s where we want to be, who’s doing what we want to do and think they are probably amazing. But at...

He’s the first poet I’ve had on this School for Good Living Podcast and he’s written a book called Words to Dance to: A Book of Poetic Meditations. He’s already written his followup called And the Lights Came On: A Book of Zen Parables and Poetic Meditations. He reads one of these zen parables in this podcast. We talk about how to know when something’s really a hell yes, when something really is a part of your calling, the willingness to give up, and everything to pursue your truth. We also explore this idea that everything is sacred and the...

Today I have a conversation with a really amazing indigenous healer, Arkan Lushwala, who is a Peruvian ceremonial leader and was adopted by a Lakota Elder named Basil Brave Heart. Arkan has written a couple books and is a very humble man. In fact, he’s the only podcast guest I’ve had who, when I asked him to describe himself, says, “First, as a farmer.” Please take anything you hear in this interview with some caution, particularly some of the rituals and ceremonies that he talks about.

James Altucher is an amazing human being, a top-ranked podcaster, a next level thinker, an investor, entrepreneur, author, stand up comedian, and former hedge fund manager. James shares his perspective on trying to be 1% better each day and opens up about giving away everything he owned and living only in Airbnb’s for over 3 years.

Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu is a psychologist and has training and clinical and community psychology, Yoga, meditation, and Chinese medicine. He holds a Doctorate from Harvard University. He’s been a teacher and counselor in Japan and the United States working with all ages from daycare to medical school. His current research is in the assessment of mindfulness and promoting personal wellbeing, leadership and social transformation. I was privileged to find Stephen’s book in the basement of the Strand bookstore in New York City. Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu.

Colin Beavan is the author of No Impact Man, the Adventures of a Guilty Liberal who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process. Colin has also written a book called How To Be Alive. I found Colins’s book used at a second-hand bookstore, it is printed on post-consumer waste paper, and printed with soy ink. That’s no surprise given that it contains the stories and experiences of a man who lived a year without producing any trash, purchasing any goods except for food grown within a 250...

Mark Gober is the author of An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth that the Brain Produces Consciousness and the Implications for Everyday Life. Mark explores many different areas of life that we don’t often talk. Things like psychedelics, remote viewing, telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, communications with the deceased, and children who remember previous lives. It’s not, in my opinion, woo woo or out there. Mark takes a very level look the science and research conducted over decades in places like Princeton or Stanford by well respected scientists and researchers. There’s something strange going on in the...

Kenji Williams is a composer and director for multimedia live theater, mixed reality, and interactive data visualization. What does that mean? Well, I met Kenji at an event in San Francisco where he showed me Bella Gaia through VR, a view of the planet earth that just blew my mind. It helped me to experience not only the beauty but the interconnectivity, the fragility of planet earth, and I was absolutely blown away. Kenji talks about his journey as a multidisciplinary artist beginning at age six as a classically trained violinist, an artistic production with artist Alex Gray, and more.

Paul is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and activist. Paul is the author of at least eight books, many articles, blog posts. President Bill Clinton called his book, Natural Capitalism, one of the five most important books today. Paul’s latest book is called Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming. Although Paul didn’t write this book Drawdown to give hope, he calls hope the pretty mask of fear. Saying instead that we must be fearless, not hopeful. I think you’ll find something in Paul’s interview here, something in Paul’s writing, that will help you to live more...

My guest is Raj Raghunathan, a professor of marketing at the McCombs School of business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the author of, If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? And he is the author of a Coursera course called A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment that has been participated in by more than 250,000 students. It’s available to you online at no cost right now. Raj explains consumption behavior through themes from psychology, behavioral science, decision theory and marketing. We go deep on the topic of gratitude, and Raj gets into the how...

Today my guest is Smiley Poswolsky, a millennial workplace expert, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough and The Breakthrough Speaker. We talk about the qualities of a good prank, the value of making the ask, not waiting for permission, and how the gatekeeper is often yourself. Smiley talks about writing the book you need, writing about whatever people are asking you. And then he gets into a few tips about public speaking. Smiley is a great example of somebody who lives a very workable lifestyle that makes a big difference in the lives of many others while...

Alan Weisman is an author who’s worked on seven continents and more than 50 countries. He’s written six books and the book that I talked to him most about is The World Without Us. It began as a thought experiment about what would happen if humanity disappeared from the planet. How long would it take for nature to rejuvenate, or would it at all? He’s a journalist, who wanted to be a scientist as a kid and had so many passions and curiosities that he decided he would write about them all. I hope that what you take away from...

Tasha Eurich has helped thousands of leaders around the world to become more self-aware and successful. Her first book, Bankable Leadership, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in 2013. Her latest book, Insight, delves into the connection between self-awareness and success. Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times, bestselling author. She’s built a reputation as a fresh modern voice in the business world by pairing her scientific grounding and human behavior with a pragmatic approach to professional development.

Today my guest is Jeff Eggers. I don’t even know where to start introducing Jeff. He retired from the Navy in 2013 after a 20-year career as a US Navy SEAL. He served in the White House for six years, most recently as President Obama’s special assistant for national security affairs. He earned an award, the Samuel Nelson Drew Award for Distinguished Contribution in Pursuit of Global Peace, presented by President Obama for mediating the political crisis following the 2014 Afghan presidential elections. We talk about leadership and the book that he’s just written with four-star general Stanley McChrystal and...

Sally Helgesen has been cited by Forbes magazine as the world’s premier expert on women’s leadership. Her Mission for the last 30 years has been to help women leaders around the world recognize, articulate, and act on their greatest strengths. She’s coauthored her most recent book, which is one of seven. She’s written How Women Rise, Break the 12 habits, Holding You Back From Your Next Raise, Promotion or Job with Marshall Goldsmith. In this conversation, we explore the specific behaviors that women often do to impede their own growth and progress at work. I think you’ll find a number...

Whitney Johnson is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption. She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after having co-founded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street.