A Note from James: Sunny Ray is working on an incredible project involving Bitcoin and his company, Matador. They’re digitizing gold—turning it into crypto—and he’s a Bitcoin maximalist. That’s different from my stance: I think there are many crypto tokens that are useful for specific purposes. But Sonny’s view is clear—Bitcoin is the foundation. We talk about what digital gold really means, why tokenization is so important, and how the biggest institutions in the world—like BlackRock—are embrac...
May 09, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1322
A Note from James: So Dr. Oz—television personality turned government official—this is such an interesting thing. He's going to be the new administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS. He’s going to be in charge of all Medicare and Medicaid. What does he know or think about these parts of our government? Medicare and Medicaid, combined with Social Security, make up the biggest part of government spending. So it'd be interesting to know what he thinks. On his show, he’d tal...
May 07, 2025•43 min•Ep. 1321
A Note from James: Marty Makary is the new head of the FDA, but he is also an old friend of the podcast. He's been on several times, and it's really important to know how this is going to be a new and different FDA, and it's going to be molded by Marty's very specific opinions about healthcare and the medical industry—and here they are. Episode Description: In this episode, James reconnects with Dr. Marty Makary, now heading the FDA, to discuss what’s broken in the American healthcare system—and...
May 06, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 1320
A Note from James: The Data Republican —it almost sounds like a superhero name. And in a way, she is. She’s been single-handedly uncovering massive amounts of government waste and inefficiency. It’s honestly unbelievable. And regardless of whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or anything else, I think we can all agree: there shouldn’t be waste or fraud in the government. You’ve heard the old stories—like the military buying a pencil for $6 million. Those weren’t urban legends. The...
Apr 30, 2025•44 min•Ep. 1319
A Note from James: So I gave a little talk at the Full Stack Business Builder Conference. Basically, a conference for entrepreneurs, VCs, technologists, aspiring entrepreneurs. It was more of a Q&A, where the moderator, Peter Satton, asked me questions, but also took questions from the audience. A big concern for many people was, what if I have no qualifications at what I'm interested in doing? And I have to admit, I've probably never been qualified for anything I've ever done. I described h...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 1318
A Note from James: Oh my gosh. This guy was thrown in jail for 65 years—and he deserved it. You'll hear about his crimes and misdemeanors. He started as a superstar quarterback, high school and college hero turned meth addict, and eventually became a hardcore RICO gang criminal. Sentenced to essentially life in prison, Damon's story is genuinely one of the most inspirational I've heard. He's got a bunch of books out—his latest, Six Dimes and a Nickel: Life Lessons to Empower Change , just came o...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 1317
Notes from James: I don’t care if you’ve never written a word before—if you’ve lived, you have a story worth telling. The people who write the most impactful books aren’t the most famous or the best trained. They’re the ones who tell the truth with clarity and heart. In this episode, I show you how to do exactly that. You’ll learn how to structure your life story for emotional and commercial impact, and how to weave in other stories, research, and personal growth without losing the power of your...
Apr 18, 2025•45 min•Ep. 1316
Notes from James: Here’s the truth: if my great-great-great grandfather had written anything —just 10 pages about his daily life—I’d treasure it like gold. And I promise, your great-grandkids will feel the same about your story. You don’t need to be a celebrity to write something that matters. You just need to be honest. Whether you're sharing how you survived grief, learned to say no, built new habits, or rebuilt your life after failure—your story could help someone else. And it could help you ...
Apr 16, 2025•49 min•Ep. 1315
A Note from James: I can't think of anything more boring to talk about than tariffs, but right now, I can't think of anything more interesting either. Tariffs are dominating the news, stock markets are crashing, and everyone is scared. Are tariffs good or bad? Is Trump wrecking the economy or saving it? I'm going to address these questions, looking at what tariffs aim to achieve, their impact on the economy, the stock market, inflation, and even Bitcoin. Let's set aside politics and try to under...
Apr 09, 2025•43 min•Ep. 1314
A Note from James: Jay, remind me, I've gotta send this episode to my kids because I cannot believe what that guy just told us. Chris Hutchins, he has the "All the Hacks" podcast and so many interesting things at his website, allthehacks.com. But I don't like the word life hack. A lot of that stuff is just BS. But this was legit—from buying gold bars at Costco to making money off gift cards. He has so many weird, interesting financial and life hacks that can genuinely help you make a living and ...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 1313
A Note from James: Sahil Bloom is one of probably the wisest people I've had on the podcast. Young guy just wrote the book, The Five Types of Wealth , and he's talking about time wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, physical wealth, and of course, financial wealth. He’s developed content and techniques he's shared in his newsletter and on Twitter, offering concise, easy-to-understand ways for increasing your wealth in each of these categories. This episode has immense value—one I definitely pla...
Apr 02, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1312
A Note from James: Is it possible to travel around the world, live around the world, do remote work anywhere you want, and spend just $75 a day or less? When I was younger, I wish I'd tried this. Back then, you probably could have done it for even less, maybe $30 a day! Today's guest, Matt Kepnes—better known as Nomadic Matt—has spent decades traveling the globe on a budget. Ten years ago, he wrote How to Travel the World on $50 a Day , and he's just updated it with How to Travel the World on $7...
Mar 27, 2025•58 min•Ep. 1311
A Note from James: As you listen to this episode, ask yourself: would you do what my guest Scott Payne did for 28 years? He’s a retired undercover FBI agent who spent nearly three decades infiltrating some of the most dangerous groups in America—white supremacist organizations, outlaw biker gangs, and domestic terror cells. His new book, Code Name: Pale Horse , reveals the harrowing details of his undercover life, including moments where he was seconds away from being exposed and killed. Scott s...
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 1310
A Note from James I had such a great conversation with my good friend, Sun Yi on his podcast, called Authentic as F*ck , and I felt like I had to say the full name of the podcast because I wanna be authentic. Authenticity is complex, and being yourself isn't always straightforward. With friends, I'm different than when giving a talk or doing a podcast. But authenticity involves knowing who you are in different contexts and what you value. Sun Yi and I explored this in-depth, discussing why being...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 51 min
Notes from James: I’ve been seeing a ton of misinformation lately about tariffs and inflation, so I had to set the record straight. People assume tariffs drive prices up across the board, but that’s just not how economics works. Inflation happens when money is printed, not when certain goods have price adjustments due to trade policies. I explain why the current tariffs aren’t a repeat of the Great Depression-era Smoot-Hawley Tariff, how Trump is using them more strategically, and what it all me...
Mar 06, 2025•25 min
Notes from James: What if I told you that we could eliminate the IRS, get rid of personal income taxes completely, and still keep the government funded? Sounds impossible, right? Well, not only is it possible, but historical precedent shows it has been done before. I know what you’re thinking—this sounds insane. But bear with me. The IRS collects $2.5 trillion in personal income taxes each year. But what if we could replace that with a national sales tax that adjusts based on what you buy ? Unde...
Feb 26, 2025•27 min
A note from James: I love digging into topics that make us question everything we thought we knew. Fort Knox is one of those legendary places we just assume is full of gold, but has anyone really checked? The fact that Musk even brought this up made me wonder—why does the U.S. still hold onto all that gold when our money isn’t backed by it anymore? And what if the answer is: it’s not there at all? This episode is a deep dive into the myths and realities of money, gold, and how the economy really...
Feb 21, 2025•31 min
A Note from James: Who's better than you? That's the book written by Will Packer, who has been producing some of my favorite movies since he was practically a teenager. He produced Straight Outta Compton , he produced Girls Trip with former podcast guest Tiffany Haddish starring in it, and he's produced a ton of other movies against impossible odds. How did he build the confidence? What were some of his crazy stories? Here's Will Packer to describe the whole thing. Episode Description: Will Pack...
Feb 18, 2025•51 min
A Note from James: You know what drives me crazy? When people say, "I have to build a personal brand." Usually, when something has a brand, like Coca-Cola, you think of a tasty, satisfying drink on a hot day. But really, a brand is a lie—it's the difference between perception and reality. Coca-Cola is just a sugary brown drink that's unhealthy for you. So what does it mean to have a personal brand? I discussed this with Nick Singh, and we also talked about retirement—what’s your number? How much...
Feb 14, 2025•1 hr 13 min
A Note from James: I've done about a dozen podcasts in the past few years about anti-aging and longevity—how to live to be 10,000 years old or whatever. Some great episodes with Brian Johnson (who spends $2 million a year trying to reverse his aging), David Sinclair (author of Lifespan and one of the top scientists researching aging), and even Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis, who co-wrote Life Force . But Peter just did something incredible. He wrote The Longevity Guidebook , which is basically...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 3 min
A Note from James: "I have been dying to understand quantum computing. And listen, I majored in computer science. I went to graduate school for computer science. I was a computer scientist for many years. I’ve taken apart and put together conventional computers. But for a long time, I kept reading articles about quantum computing, and it’s like magic—it can do anything. Or so they say. Quantum computing doesn’t follow the conventional ways of understanding computers. It’s a completely different ...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 6 min
A Note from James: So we have a brand new president of the United States, and of course, everyone has their opinion about whether President Trump has been good or bad, will be good and bad. Everyone has their opinion about Biden, Obama, and so on. But what makes someone a good president? What makes someone a bad president? Obviously, we want our presidents to be moral and ethical, and we want them to be as transparent as possible with the citizens. Sometimes they can't be totally transparent—neg...
Jan 21, 2025•58 min
A Note from James: Probably no president has fascinated this country and our history as much as John F. Kennedy, JFK. Everyone who lived through it remembers where they were when JFK was assassinated. He's considered the golden boy of American politics. But I didn't know this amazing conspiracy that was happening right before JFK took office. Best-selling thriller writer Brad Meltzer, one of my favorite writers, breaks it all down. He just wrote a book called The JFK Conspiracy . I highly recomm...
Jan 14, 2025•44 min
A Note from James: So, I’m out rock climbing, but I really wanted to take a moment to introduce today’s guest: Roger Reaves. This guy is unbelievable. He’s arguably the biggest drug smuggler in history, having worked with Pablo Escobar and others through the '70s, '80s, and even into the '90s. Roger’s life is like something out of a movie—he spent 33 years in jail and has incredible stories about the drug trade, working with people like Barry Seal, and the U.S. government’s involvement in the sm...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 31 min
A Note from James: "Couldn't believe it was possible. I thought the reality show of Election 2024 could not be beat, but it turns out that was just season one, and season two is incredible. Right now, I don't know whether this is insane or the smartest thing possible. So we're going to figure this out right now. Trump just announced that he wants to buy Greenland and so many things to unpack there. The deeper I go, the more of a rabbit hole it became, and the deeper I went." Episode Description:...
Dec 30, 2024•25 min
A Note from James: The world's completely changing. Young people, including my five kids, are no longer planning on that one-job, one-career trajectory where you start at General Motors or Procter & Gamble and retire 45 years later with a gold watch. Instead, they’re hustling. They're building side hustles, working from home, and finding ways to make money while traveling. And where do all these opportunities come from? Micha Kaufman, the founder and CEO of Fiverr, joins me today. Fiverr has...
Dec 24, 2024•49 min
Episode Description: Eric Jorgenson’s story with Scribe Media is one of the rare second chances in business. In this episode, James sits down with Eric to discuss how he saved Scribe from its dramatic downfall, brought it back to stability, and is leading it into a promising future. Eric shares the inner workings of the acquisition, the lessons learned from Scribe’s collapse, and how the company is redefining professional self-publishing. Together, they also explore why self-publishing is a vita...
Dec 18, 2024•55 min
A Note from James: Money GPT. I mean, we've all heard about the incredible potential of AI, and I’ve shared my optimism about its future in many episodes. But today, we have Jim Rickards back on the show, and he’s here to offer a more skeptical perspective. You might remember our earlier discussion where Jim laid out a masterclass on the economy, its history, and what might unfold over the next few years. Now, he’s back with insights from his new book, Money GPT , diving into what we should watc...
Dec 10, 2024•49 min
A Note from James: If my kids asked me, "What is the one podcast we should listen to to create financial security, wealth, whatever?"—this is the one I’d recommend. Codie Sanchez is so smart, thoughtful about business, and open about her journey to success, including the failures she's overcome. Her book, Main Street Millionaire, highlights how the most boring businesses—laundromats, car washes, and other everyday enterprises—are the true wealth creators. Codie shares her strategies for buying t...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 50 min
A Note from James:"Over a billion people play chess. Even if you're not into it, think about this: two armies on a board, going to war. It's the game of kings, and back in the day, kings played chess to strategize without any bloodshed. Although, if you've ever lost a chess game, you might feel like someone just wiped you off the board. I've been there-sitting for hours, putting your whole brain into it, and then losing. It feels like death. People cry. I've cried.But here's the thing: it's also...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 14 min
