James Altucher interviews the world's leading peak performers in every area of life. But instead of giving you the typical success story, James digs deeper to find the "Choose Yourself" story - these are the moments we relate to... when someone rises up from personal struggle to reinvent themselves. The James Altucher Show brings you into the lives of peak-performers: billionaires, best-selling authors, rappers, astronauts, athletes, comedians, actors, and the world champions in every field, all who forged their own paths, found financial freedom and harnessed the power to create more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
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Episode Description: To launch our “From the Archive” series, James revisits his candid talk with Sara Blakely about turning fear into fuel, reframing failure, and selling a simple product with language and grit. You’ll hear the bathroom demo that won Neiman Marcus, the three-part courage engine she still uses, and how to protect the thinking time that sparks real ideas. What You’ll Learn: A usable framework for courage: how gratitude, mortality, and mission help you act when you’re anxious. Col...
In this insightful conversation, Peter Thiel discusses his "Zero to One" philosophy, emphasizing the importance of creating entirely new, differentiated businesses rather than engaging in intense competition. He shares lessons from PayPal and Facebook's early days, highlighting the value of strong team dynamics, contrarian thinking, and strategically targeting small, winnable markets. Thiel also offers unique perspectives on market bubbles, regulatory challenges in biotech, and the continuous pursuit of undiscovered "secrets" through interdisciplinary exploration.
A Note from James: Tim Dillon is crazy—in the best way. Not “institution” crazy. Crazy smart. Years ago he told me things about Epstein, hustle culture, and how the world really works that felt outlandish then and obvious now. He’s quirky, honest, and usually right about what to pay attention to. Also, he’s flat-out funny. Let’s bring Tim back and see how much of that old conversation still hits today. Episode Description: This redux revisits James’s conversation with comedian Tim Dillon on narr...
James brings back astrophysicist Brian Keating for a practical takedown of moon-landing conspiracy claims—and a wider lesson in how to reason when everyone has a microphone. From the Van Allen belts to “the flag waving,” Keating separates physics from folklore, explains what evidence actually looks like (hello, laser retroreflectors), and gives a playbook for engaging friends who’ve gone down the rabbit hole—without losing your mind. MAKE SURE TO WATCH: Brian Keating's Video Debunking the Moon L...
Today, we're sharing the recent episode of the Digital Social Hour Podcast by Sean Kelly. James Altucher joins the show to break down why the 10,000-hour rule is a myth, how to cheat your way into the top 1%, why obsession matters more than talent, and how AI is now the greatest mentor of all time. From entrepreneurship and failure… to mental health, chess mastery, comedy, and why losing millions hurts more than being broke — this episode goes deep. If you're chasing mastery, reinvention, or cla...
A Note from James: Tye Sheridan is one of my favorite actors. You might know him as Cyclops in the X-Men movies ( Apocalypse , etc.) or as the lead in Ready Player One —which is not only a great movie but also one of my favorite sci-fi books. One of his first films was Mud with Matthew McConaughey. What I didn’t realize: since 2016, while still acting, Tye has also been a serious AI entrepreneur. He and Nikola Todorovic co-founded AI-powered VFX/CGI company, Wonder Dynamics , now an Autodesk com...
Episode Description: James sits down with astrophysicist Brian Keating for a candid, useful tour through three hot zones: how to think about AI (and where it actually helps), what’s broken in higher ed and admissions right now, and why outsourcing your mood to politics is a losing strategy. You’ll hear first-hand stories (from UC San Diego classrooms to New York City politics), specific ways James and Brian really use AI daily, and a simple framework for protecting your attention and happiness—e...
A Note from James: Are UFOs real or not? For 80 years there have been credible whistleblowers saying the government recovered craft—and even bodies. That’s why I wanted Kent Heckenlively on, the author of Catastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth . I’m not here to decide for you. I want to hear the best evidence, ask the obvious questions, and have you help me figure out if we actually got closer to the truth. Let’s find out together. Episode Description: n this episode, Jam...
A Note from James: Wisdom Takes Work is Ryan Holiday’s fourth book exploring the Stoic virtues, and this time he’s taking on the big one — wisdom. His earlier books on courage, temperance, and justice were all great conversations, but this one hit me personally. I’ve often thought I had wisdom, only to realize later that I didn’t — or at least not as much as I thought. Ryan’s writing blends ancient Stoic philosophy with modern life in a way that feels both practical and timeless. We talked about...
A Note from James Tupac Shakur—one of the greatest rap artists ever—was shot and killed almost two decades ago. What else is there left to say about him? What new things can be said? Well, Jeff Pearlman’s new book, Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur , takes on that challenge. In our conversation, we talk about what Jeff uncovered in his research, why he wanted to write another Tupac book, and what made this one different. But first, a little story. Back in the ’90s, I was runn...
A Note from James Oh my gosh—I was scared after this one. In this episode, I learned about what’s really on the dark web… and the even scarier stuff on what’s called the deep web. Eric O’Neill—who, by the way, is the former FBI agent who brought down Robert Hanssen, the biggest double agent in U.S. history—joined me for this conversation. Hanssen was the FBI’s top analyst on the Soviet Union, and at the same time, he was secretly working for the Soviet Union—for twenty-two years. Eric was the on...
A Note from James I first got really impressed with Steven Pinker when he wrote The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined . He basically shows that over the past 10,000 years, every single century has been less violent than the one before it. You might think, “That can’t include the 20th century,” right? We had World War I, World War II, atomic bombs, the flu pandemic of 1920, Vietnam—all these massive wars. But when you look at violent deaths per capita, the 20th century was ac...
A Note from James I’ve always loved books where a journalist gets so deep into a subculture that they become part of it. Magic Is Dead by Ian Frisch is one of those. He starts out covering a secret society of magicians—“The 52,” named for the cards in a deck—and ends up becoming one of them. It reminded me of other favorites like Word Freak (Scrabble), The Game (pickup artists), and Moonwalking with Einstein (memory champions). I love that genre of participation—when curiosity turns into obsessi...
A Note from James I’m such a fan of this guy. I loved The Psychology of Money — it felt like he was writing directly about me. I’ve made a lot of money, lost it all, made it again, lost it again. Over and over. And Morgan gets it. His new book, The Art of Spending Money , hits even deeper. It’s not just about being rich; it’s about freedom, simplicity, and contentment — the real returns of life. Every word of this conversation is a reminder that money is never about money. It’s about independenc...
A Note from James: Bill O’Reilly’s new book, Confronting Evil , is both a history lesson and a warning. It’s a study of the most destructive figures in human history—from Hitler, Stalin, and Mao to Genghis Khan, Caligula, and even modern evildoers like Putin and the cartels. When I first picked it up, I thought it would be about the past. But after reading it, I realized it’s really about right now—about how evil mutates, reappears, and spreads when we stop paying attention. We talked about the ...
A Note from James Miesha Tate is one of my favorite people in the world. She’s an incredible athlete—the ultimate fighting champion of the planet at one point—but more than that, she’s someone who’s turned struggle, discipline, and excellence into wisdom. I was honored when she asked me to be on her podcast, Built for Growth . We talked about surviving turbulence in life, doing hard things, and why obsession can be both a gift and a curse. What I loved most was how different our paths have been,...
A Note from James This might be the most insane chess story I’ve ever heard—not even really a chess story, but a cult story. It’s wild, intense, and ultimately inspiring. Danny Rensch grew up in a cult in Arizona. At just 10 years old, the cult leader noticed his chess ability, took him away from his parents, and he wouldn’t see his mother again for a decade. I first heard Danny’s story when we met at Norway Chess a year and a half ago. Over dinner, he told me pieces of what would become his boo...
A Note from James I’m really concerned about the level of discourse in this country. It’s almost a cliché to say that now, but especially after the Charlie Kirk assassination, the division feels overwhelming. I even got invited to speak at the Oxford Union—the most prestigious debate society in the world—but ultimately declined because I didn’t like how the whole situation was being handled. I can’t stand when anyone celebrates a death. Regardless of politics, it disturbs me. And every day, my s...
A Note from James This is a crazy story. Martin Suarez holds the record for the longest continuous undercover assignment in FBI history. He went undercover as a cartel drug lord—smuggling billions of dollars’ worth of cocaine while posing as “Manny.” At one point, the story even starts with a gun to his head, convinced his cover was blown. The book Inside the Cartel: A True Crime Tale of Espionage, Undercover Operations, and a War Against Billionaire Drug Lords —co-authored with journalist Ian F...
Episode Description Right after wrapping up their main conversation, James and Brian hit record again for a bonus session. What came out is an unfiltered talk on humility, arrogance, and the strange mix of traits needed to achieve great things. From the wisdom of the Talmud to the Dunning–Kruger effect, they explore why even Nobel Prize winners wrestle with imposter syndrome. James shares how writing books requires a mix of blind confidence and humility, while Brian connects scientific resilienc...
In this episode, Brian Keating shares insights from his interviews with Nobel Prize winners, revealing common habits and career methods beyond typical self-help advice. He introduces the 'Keating Test' for AI and debates the merits of intense focus versus broad curiosity in career development. The discussion also covers the critical role of communication in scientific discovery, practical strategies for students, and cutting-edge cosmology research, including the age of the universe and the quest for cosmic origins.
A Note from James I’ve been on and off writing. From 2004 to 2021, I wrote one to two books a year, without fail. Since then, nothing. But I’ve been working on an idea: obsession. When I’m not obsessed, I can’t do much—sometimes not even the basics. But when I am obsessed, I can turn that energy into real outcomes: a business, a book, a skill, sometimes success, sometimes failure. This episode comes from a recent conversation I had with the Ventura Labs team. We talked about obsession, but also ...
A Note from James The man, the myth, the legend—Rick Harrison. You know him as the star of Pawn Stars , the reality show based on the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. The show has been running for over 21 seasons, and Rick himself has become the godfather of the pawn business. I even joined Rick and Chumlee on their own podcast, Pawn After Dark , which was a blast. On this episode, Rick shares the ins and outs of the pawn world—why he thinks it’s the best business model ever, how it’s r...
A Note from James I’m honored to have today’s guest: Tristan de Montebello, a finalist in the World Championship of Public Speaking. He also co-founded UltraSpeaking ( ultraspeaking.com/james ), where he teaches techniques to improve communication through games and real-world practice. We even played some of those games during this episode, and they surprised me with how much they revealed about my own speaking. Public speaking isn’t just about giving a good talk—it’s about understanding who you...
A Note from James What does it take to make a discovery that changes the world? Think about landing on the moon — a true moonshot. Along the way, countless technologies were invented that reshaped life back on Earth. My guest today, Astro Teller, has been part of that same kind of world-changing work. At X — Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory — he’s led projects that gave us self-driving cars, Google Brain, drone delivery, augmented reality with Google Glass, and much more. We even talk about quantum c...
A Note from James There’s always been debate about whether college is worth it. But what if there’s a better alternative—one that actually prepares you to become the person you want to be? My good friend Matt Smith just wrote a book with Doug Casey called The Preparation . It’s not theory—he’s been putting his own son through it as a real-world experiment. Instead of college, Maxim has spent the past two years learning skills like EMT training, firefighting, building houses, working cattle, and ...
Episode Description James sits down with Case Kenny, author of The Opposite of Settling and host of New Mindset, Who Dis? , to talk about how our expectations around relationships shape the way we date and commit. Case shares the research, stories, and mindset shifts that helped him go from avoiding commitment in his twenties to finding fulfillment in a relationship that amplifies his independence. This episode challenges old narratives about “settling down” and offers a practical framework for ...
Episode Description: Hosted by James Altucher (serial entrepreneur, bestselling author of "Choose Yourself," podcaster, hedge fund manager, chess master, and investor in over 20 companies, with expertise in crypto and AI) and Joseph Jacks (founder and general partner of OSS Capital, the world's first VC firm dedicated to commercial open-source software; early-stage investor in AI and open-source tech, previously Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Quantum Corporation). In the premiere episode, James an...
A Note from James: "Anatomy of a Con Artist. The 14 red flags to spot scammers, grifters, and thieves". This is a book—an amazing book—by Johnathan Walton. Check out his podcast Queen of the Con , and his new one Cocaine Air . We talk about both in this episode. But his book, Anatomy of a Con Artist , is just dead on. Johnathan shares how he got conned out of nearly $100,000 by someone posing as an Irish heiress. He breaks down not only that story but others—showing how all these professional co...
A Note from James: I was honored to be on the Smart Humans Podcast . I’m a big fan of the show, and I was happy they asked me on—especially since I got to talk about things I don’t usually cover here. We discussed my specific predictions for investments like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tau, and stablecoin-related tokens like Curve and Aave. We also explored AI’s role across industries, habits that have helped me build and sell companies, and bad habits that cost me millions. This episode is packed with m...
