Steven Pressfield's newest book, Govt Cheese a memoir, must jump to the top of your reading list. Both gut-wrenching and laugh-out-loud funny, his brutally honest story is a compelling page-turner. Steven's writing career spans many genres and formats, but it almost never materialized. From US Marine to advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout, mental hospital attendant, migrant fruit-picker, and hack screenwriter, his debut novel - The Legend...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Think of this as a step-by-step guide to building literally your own real estate empire! Roy "Rolly" Weaver did his first real estate transaction fresh out of college with ZERO dollars to his name and, leveraging his earnings, built a portfolio including an apartment building, a hotel, and resort-town cabins which continue to earn him hundreds of thousands of dollars in passive income annually!Listen on hear to Rolly describe his business ascent using other people's money and stick around for th...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 20 min
Alex Banayan's story would have made a perfect chapter in Skip the Line: A college student hacks his way onto a game show, uses his wit to win the showcase, sells the prizes, and uses the proceeds to fund his business ambitions!Alex's bestselling book The Third Door takes readers on an unprecedented adventure-from hacking Warren Buffett's shareholders' meeting to chasing Larry King through a grocery store to celebrating in a nightclub with Lady Gaga-as Alex Banayan travels from icon to icon, dec...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, joins The James Altucher Show to discuss technology and how different systems handle disorder. As humans evolve, technology is constantly being upgraded and replaced with new concepts and ideas. Today, we use technology in almost every aspect of our lives, but do we really understand the advantages and disadvantages of constantly being computerized?In Nassim's book The Black Swan, he highlighted for readers the unusual...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 41 min
Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, M.D., has served as chief product officer and chief innovation officer at BetterUp, founding CEO of LifeLink, and an advisor to healthcare, coaching, and behavior change technology companies. Martin Seligman, Ph.D. is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Positive Psychology Center, and former president of the American Psychological Association. Together, they join James today to discuss their new book, Tomorrowmind.Tomorrowmind tackles the cha...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr 20 min
Jon Morrow might be the most successful copywriter on the web, and he's definitely the best indexed on the web. Jon (the owner of Smart Blogger) and James take today's 80 minutes to unravel the current market conditions for getting paid to write content, how to learn to do it, and how rapidly the market is going to shift over the next 5 years.In Jon's words, "The future of AI isn't to replace all writers, I think it's going to replace the word processor. Instead of going into Google Docs or Micr...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 17 min
"If you listen to only one podcast this year, this has to be the one." That's what James wrote after interviewing Peter Thiel in 2014 and, to begin 2023, we've remastered this classic episode for a new audience to experience. To one degree, this time-capsule episode immediately dates itself: Discussion about whether Uber can grow outside of San Francisco; Facebook was the most important social media company; talk of "new banking systems" doesn't revolve around cryptocurrencies and DFi. Make it p...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Today's episode with Dr. Brian Keating - concluding our conversation from last week - also acts as a fitting bookend to our previous episode with Jordan Harbinger. Brian and James delve into the perils of fame-seeking ambition and how their world views have changed after recently cresting age 50.Brian also gives some business ideas he's been ruminating on and asks for James' feedback:"Yellowstone" but Based Around the Biblical Patriarchy (00:11:53)Anti-Doxing as a Service (00:21:36)Deepfake &...
Dec 27, 2022•43 min
Fan favorite guest Jordan Harbinger joins today for an agenda-free discussion that winds up centering around ambition, the importance of lived experience, family life, and how artificial intelligence is changing the job descriptions of content creators and media personalities.Enjoy our episodes with Jordan? Check out The Jordan Harbinger Show! Here are the episodes Jordan and James discuss during today's conversation:Ken Perenyi | The Secret Life of an American Art Forger | The Jordan Harbinger ...
Dec 22, 2022•45 min
Our conversations with astrophysicist Brian Keating Ph.D. are always wide-ranging, topical, and a little spicy (served with a side of bad puns). Today's conversation begins amidst the 5-week University of California Graduate Student Union strike, where Brian was unable to communicate with his graduate research assistants without a picket line being crossed. The discussion moves back to familiar territory from our prior encounters: imposter syndrome, winning and losing prestigious awards, and whe...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Our end-of-the-year recommendation series continues this week with friend of the pod Jason Feifer!In honor of the eight nights of Chanukah (not really), Jason has come loaded with 8 recommendations to take you into 2023.Listen on to hear why Jason made these picks and find out what the heck "machatunim" means! Jason's 1st Recommendation: If you have a curiosity, call or email someone smart (00:26:57)Jason's 2nd Recommendation: Annie Duke's newest book Quit (00:34:31)Jason's 3rd Recommendation: T...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Dan Martell's work ethic propelled his business forward...and destroyed his life. His constant attachment to the job ruined his friendships and ended his engagement with his fiancé. Did any of this stop him? Yes, yes it did.Dan now preaches his "Buy Back Your Time" method, coaching CEOs and entrepreneurs on how to lead and grow their companies while delegating the tasks that they don't enjoy or don't excel at.In today's conclusion to our two-part interview, we hear about Dan's career and develop...
Dec 13, 2022•40 min
Whenever A.J. Jacobs comes on the podcast, you better buckle up. Our longtime friend (and occasional co-host) is always deep in the middle of a long-term experiment on himself and you never know what he's going to bring to the table. On today's episode, (jealous of our recent recommendation podcast with Amy Morin?) A.J. arrives in an 18th-century mindset to discuss his list of recommendations heading into 2023.Listen on and check out the links below for more information:A.J.'s first pick: Ground...
Dec 10, 2022•1 hr 14 min
When Dan Martell was 14 years old, his parents gave him up to the foster care system. At age 15, he ended up in a car chase with the police while driving a stolen car with a handgun inside and tried to end his life. While in rehab after a stint incarcerated, he focused his attention on a 486 computer and Java programming handbook and never looked back.Today, Dan is on a mission to scale companies and help CEOs "Buy Back Their Time", and is known as one of the world's most popular "SaaS coach" to...
Dec 08, 2022•34 min
Our favorite boat-dwelling, social working, Maine-to-Florida transplant - bestselling author/podcaster/psychotherapist Amy Morin, LCSW - makes her eagerly awaited return to the podcast to wrap up 2022 and help ring in the new year with James. The duo present their favorite book, show, and activity recommendations from the next year and we get the details on Amy's upcoming books releasing in 2023!James and Amy's 2022 Nonfiction Book Picks:Discipline is Destiny by Ryan HolidayListen to the Intervi...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Enjoy the second half of our episode with Dr. Andrew Huberman (one of the world's leading neuroscientists), who tells us how to create happy chemicals in our brains (naturally) and feel good more often.Here's a list of what we talked about:How to optimize your brain to be as happy as possible, as energetic as possible, and as smart as possibleHow to create more happy chemicalsHuman evolution and why our brain functions the way it doesThe purpose of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, and how to c...
Dec 03, 2022•41 min
Part of enjoying life is taking care of your brain. So I wanted to invite Dr. Andrew Huberman (one of the world's leading neuroscientists) back on to tell us how to create happy chemicals in our brains (naturally) and feel good more often.Here's a list of what we talked about:How to optimize your brain to be as happy as possible, as energetic as possible, and as smart as possibleHow to create more happy chemicalsHuman evolution and why our brain functions the way it doesThe purpose of serotonin,...
Dec 02, 2022•57 min
How do we get better crypto exchanges and custodians, both in terms of being more responsible and more regulated?Coming out of the FTX debacle, the media spotlight is highlighting the cracks and flaws in the current system. While the crypto industry is doubling down on ways to make key management and self-custody a lot easier with ideas like social backups, a revamp of the exchange industry is needed in order for major sources of wealth to stake their claims in the marketplace.Enjoy the conclusi...
Nov 29, 2022•41 min
Omid Malekan, the former Crypto advisor for Citi Ventures, has a lot of ideas about the direction of decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies. Today, Omid and James piggyback on last week's interview with Google finance lead Antonio Reza to discuss the industry fallout from FTX's fraud and bankruptcy filing.The pair discuss how we can develop better crypto exchanges, the broad role of NFTs in assigning property rights to intangible assets, and lessons learned from Omid's new book: Re-Architect...
Nov 25, 2022•34 min
"Voters are ready to move on and they want to know how you're going to solve the future problems and the current problems, not dispute past arguments." - Phillip StuttsPolitical operative and campaign manager Phil Stutts joins James live on YouTube for a 2022 election recap. Listeners may recall Phil's two most recent appearances on the podcast where Phil discussed polling while James gambled on outcomes using the website PredictIt.org.The "Red Wave" that Phil had forecasted 9-days prior to the ...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 15 min
When Matt Ridley joined us most recently, he and co-author Alina Chan - a molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering - had just released Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, which defends why people ought to take the SARS-CoV-2 lab-leak hypothesis seriously. One year later - now that the politicization regarding every aspect of Covid has subdued - Matt rejoins the podcast to discuss what he's learned over the past twelve months.------------Visit Notepd.com to ...
Nov 19, 2022•58 min
The ABCs of How to Commit Corporate Fraud:Step 1: Have high-up government connections.Step 2: Deal with a service so complicated that you don't need to explain it.Step 3: Transfer balances between your own entities to pump up valuations.Step 4: Payoff the accountants (or don't have a CFO at all!).Enron, WorldCom, Madoff Securities, FTX. All of these companies have had Icarus-like rises and collapses and they all followed the same playbook. Is it a coincidence that the man who returned $20 billio...
Nov 17, 2022•1 hr
"There's a consequence to everything you do on a chess board, there's a consequence to everything you do in a firefight."David Bellavia is an author, radio host, public speaker, and US Army veteran, known famously as the first and only living Medal of Honor recipient from Operation Iraqi Freedom.Today's double-length episode is a real treat.During the first hour, David recounts the events in the Iraq war leading up to the Second Battle of Fallujah and gives a play-by-play of the night in vivid d...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 44 min
"The extreme fringe of technology combined with mystery."Jesse Michels (ex-Google, Thiel Capital) wears many hats, his current favorite being his American Alchemy Youtube channel. Each week, Jesse converses with serious scientific professionals about UFOs, Psychic Powers, and probes the topics of human uncertainty. Additional Topics Include:Parapsychology (00:11:06)J. B. Rhine at Duke University (00:14:10)James' meeting with Uri Geller (00:30:34)Stanford Professor Gary Nolan's unearthly UFO cras...
Nov 14, 2022•1 hr 18 min
Brain researcher Marc Milstein, Ph.D. joins today's conversation to discuss The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, and Fight Off Dementia. Dr. Milstein and James discuss good brain habits, the link between gut health and brain health, and strategies to lower your risk for Alzheimer's and dementia.Additional topics include:Brain shrinkage after age 40 (00:06:43)How sleep aids affect the 'brain washing' process (00:12:04)Anxiety and depression's impact on dementia...
Nov 10, 2022•57 min
GrubHub co-founder Mike Evans started the food delivery service in his apartment and left, 12 years later, after a $2.1 Billion IPO. Along the way, he's transformed the way consumers interact (or don't interact) with restaurants, learned the "real way" to apologize, and is focusing his efforts on providing salaries, benefits, equity, continuous training, and progressive career opportunities to folks entering the building trades. After the podcast, learn more about Mike's career and his 4,000-mil...
Nov 08, 2022•49 min
Jaime Rogozinski founded the WallStreetBets sub-Reddit in 2012 during the height of the #OccupyWallStreet movement as a response to how banks use the stock market like a casino. The community provides low-capital investors opportunities and information on how to leverage huge returns in opposition to 'traditional' investing which takes years to generate wealth via compound interest. During the pandemic, the forum exploded in notoriety when the group invested heavily in GameStop, AMC, and other '...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Campaign manager and political operative Phillip Stutts returns - one week prior to the 2022 midterm elections - to help James finalize his bets on PredictIt.org. The pair examine how Phil's predictions from his September appearance on the show have played out and give updated predictions on specific competitive races. James also gives his initial impression of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover, the upcoming Federal Reserve Board meetings, and how a divided government might boost the flagging stock m...
Nov 02, 2022•1 hr 13 min
The conclusion of last week's two-part two-hour conversation with Andrew Gold! This half of the interview centers around Andrew's experience as a world-traveling Brit experiencing different American cities for his first extended visit to the States. The two discuss "tipping culture" in America, corporations banning "wrong thought" for the sake of their own profits, and Andrew's surreal visit to Tim Pool's compound when being interviewed on his podcast.-----------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min
"Mr. Wonderful" Kevin O'Leary joins James for a 'fireside chat' in front of a live audience at this year's Web3 Expo in Las Vegas!The pair discuss Kevin's current venture, WonderFi, which "provides access to decentralized and regulated centralized crypto platforms and is focused on building the future of finance". The conversation also pivots to how federal regulation and the $USDC stablecoin will open investment opportunities to sovereign wealth funds and provide a much faster and cheaper repla...
Oct 28, 2022•29 min
