We turn to ancient philosophies to help us cope with the stress of modern life. But what if ancient wisdom could use some help from the modern world? Jay Shetty has made it his life’s work to make wisdom, peace, and purpose available to everyone. After living as a monk for 3 years, he left his monastic lifestyle with the hope of spreading what he learned to as many people as possible. Today, he’s the host of the On Purpose podcast, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a life coach, and an ent...
Mar 11, 2025•50 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast To recognize your own talent takes time and self-awareness. But to find the courage to pursue it? That often requires a spark of inspiration from someone else. For Hasan Minhaj, that spark came from an unexpected trio—a teacher, a roommate, and Napster. A former correspondent on The Daily Show , Hasan’s natural gift of gab allowed him to build a wide-ranging career which spans standup, acting, Netflix shows, and, most recently, his podcast, Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know. I had the pleasure of sittin...
Mar 04, 2025•45 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast Most people believe the only way to lead is to become the best at something. But what if great leadership means admitting you’re not the best at anything? Jocko Willink believes the secret to his greatest achievements come down to one thing – humility. A retired Navy SEAL commander, Jocko served 20 years in the U.S. military, leading one of the most decorated special operations units through combat in the Iraq War. A New York Times bestselling author, podcast host, and entrepreneur, he now teach...
Feb 25, 2025•42 min•Ep 163•Transcript available on Metacast Death is a word we like to avoid. We dance around the subject or use vague euphemisms to not hurt anybody. But what if being open about our deaths meant we could live happier lives? That’s where Alua Arthur comes in. Alua is one of the most prominent death doulas in the country, which means it’s her job to help people die. She offers support to her clients and their families as they embark on their dying journey, tackling everything from financial planning and insurance policy to emotional suppo...
Feb 18, 2025•45 min•Ep 162•Transcript available on Metacast People aren’t born great leaders. They learn to become great leaders. For Brian Chesky, the learning never stops. As the co-founder of Airbnb, he had to transition from an impassioned entrepreneur with a brilliant idea into a CEO responsible for thousands of employees. To make the hard decisions necessary for Airbnb to survive the COVID pandemic, a cataclysmic event for the travel industry, Brian had to lean into the skills and thinking he’d learned and practiced for over a decade of leadership....
Feb 11, 2025•44 min•Ep 161•Transcript available on Metacast To create something truly original, do we build something new or break what came before? Perhaps the answer is both—simultaneously. Jacob Collier does exactly that. A brilliant songwriter and musician, he’s known for transforming his live audiences into massive three-part choirs, making music with the very people who attend his concerts. His album Djesse Volume 4 was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards, alongside icons like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift. Although...
Feb 04, 2025•58 min•Ep 160•Transcript available on Metacast Parenting is the hardest job in the world—and it turns out, it’s also one of the best training grounds for leadership. Dr. Becky Kennedy, aka the “Millennial Parent Whisperer,” became an essential voice for caretakers by offering practical, actionable parenting advice that resonated with millions during the pandemic. As a clinical psychologist and founder of Good Inside, she’s now helping parents build sturdy leadership skills that not only transform their homes but also their work lives. In thi...
Jan 28, 2025•43 min•Ep 159•Transcript available on Metacast When the wildfires struck Los Angeles, turmoil quickly consumed the city. People were desperate for clear, reliable information—unsure of evacuation routes or how to track the fires as they spread in a history-making wind storm. Then, we found Watch Duty . This intuitive app became our lifeline. The visionary behind the app is John Mills, a seasoned tech entrepreneur who created Watch Duty out of necessity after his own community in Northern California was repeatedly threatened by deadly wildfir...
Jan 21, 2025•39 min•Ep 158•Transcript available on Metacast Life can feel overwhelming, especially when we're too drained to even get out of bed. So, how do we push through those days? For Mel Robbins, facing this very question turned her life around. Struggling with $800,000 in debt and at rock bottom, she became obsessed with finding practical ways to regain control. Fast-forward to today, and Mel is a bestselling author and podcast host who has helped millions transform their lives. In her latest book, The Let Them Theory , she reveals how shedding th...
Jan 14, 2025•55 min•Ep 157•Transcript available on Metacast Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions. Where do we go to feel like we belong? As the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy has been a leading voice in bringing the loneliness crisis to light, stressing its devastating impact on public health. As his second term nears its end, he leaves behind a powerful reflection in his letter, My Parting Prescription for America and the World . In an insightful conversation with Dr. Murthy, we delve into what it truly means to be healthy...
Jan 07, 2025•47 min•Ep 156•Transcript available on Metacast It’s our last episode of 2024, so I decided to invite comedian Trevor Noah on…to get as serious as possible. Most Americans know Trevor as the former host of The Daily Show , a bestselling author, and a stand-up comedian. But his brand of humor isn’t just a barrel of laughs— it’s raw, witty, thought-provoking, and often makes you see the world in a whole new way. In this conversation, we ditched the small talk (mostly) and went deep into the paradox of choice, the public's response to the murder...
Dec 17, 2024•57 min•Ep 155•Transcript available on Metacast They say business and pleasure don’t mix. But what about business and friends? My dear friend Will Guidara is the perfect person to dive into this question because we're actively trying to get into business together. And, let's just say, it requires a lot of effort. In addition to being someone I love, Will is a renowned restaurateur, known for owning and operating Eleven Madison Park, once named the best restaurant in the world. He’s also the author of the brilliant book Unreasonable Hospitalit...
Dec 10, 2024•49 min•Ep 154•Transcript available on Metacast We all want to live a happy life, but what does research say about how to actually achieve it? For more than 86 years, researchers at Harvard University have been trying to answer that question. In one of the longest-running and most comprehensive studies of human happiness, Harvard tracked 724 teenagers through every stage of their adult lives since 1938. Some of them are still alive today and the findings are clear: lasting happiness isn’t about wealth or fame—it’s about something much deeper....
Dec 03, 2024•46 min•Ep 153•Transcript available on Metacast Finding love is a journey. We might take some wrong turns along the way. Matthew Hussey helps people find love, and sometimes, redefine their relationship with love. Matthew is a dating coach who balances practical advice about the art of attraction with the importance of centering our own sense of self in our search for love. Starting as a teenager and working primarily with women, he’s helped thousands of people find romance and create relationships built on values which feel right for them. I...
Nov 26, 2024•49 min•Ep 152•Transcript available on Metacast Close friends are the best thing for your health. Friendship, it turns out, is one of life’s best medicines. If you don’t believe me, believe Dr. Mark Hyman. Mark is one of the leading voices in the functional medicine movement, which is all about taking a holistic approach to our health for natural healing and preventing disease. The smallest changes in our daily lifestyle habits, or what we eat and drink, or our positive social interactions can have huge impacts on our long-term health. I sat ...
Nov 19, 2024•48 min•Ep 151•Transcript available on Metacast In 2020, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from his own company in protest. After 15 years building Reddit into a social media juggernaut, why leave? The answer is values. Alexis is the kind of entrepreneur and investor who believes that integrity and long term profits go hand in hand. It’s the reason he started his new company 776, allowing him to invest in startups that are trying to make the world a better place. And it’s the reason he resigned from Reddit after George Floyd was kille...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep 150•Transcript available on Metacast Kenya's Maasai Mara is rugged, beautiful, and tough. Values are everything for the people who live in this rural countryside, On a trip to Kenya, I had the opportunity to visit The Mara. The intelligence and grit of the young people there blew me away! I met incredibly driven young women determined to uplift their families from poverty. Carol Moraa is giving them that opportunity. She's the founding principal of Kisaruni Girls High School and Provost for Legacy College. I wanted to ask Carol whe...
Nov 05, 2024•40 min•Ep 149•Transcript available on Metacast Peace is a process, not an outcome. It's a process that must begin with understanding the other side. Few people on this planet have as much experience making peace as William Ury. William spent decades as a peace negotiator, resolving the world's most intractable conflicts — from avoiding nuclear catastrophe in the Cold War to mediating ethnic tensions and civil wars. Considered one of the world's pre-eminent negotiation experts, he's written several books on the subject, including the best-sel...
Oct 29, 2024•42 min•Ep 148•Transcript available on Metacast Astonishment. A feeling of amazement so powerful you have to stop in wonder. As President and CEO of the Chicago Bears, Kevin Warren's job is to astonish people with sports moments they'll never forget. A veteran executive of professional football, he's also served as COO of the Minnesota Vikings and Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference. For Kevin, helping others experience the magic of the Bears starts with finding his own astonishment. He shares with me why ambitious high-performers need to ...
Oct 22, 2024•56 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast Leadership is deeply personal. As people change, the way they lead has to change, too. Few leaders have navigated as much change as Joe Biden. He was elected to the Senate at 29 and will end his time as President at 82. The number of things he has witnessed and been a part of over the course of his career is remarkable. His journey has been shaped by unlikely friendships and profound personal loss. I had the honor to sit down with President Biden at the White House to reflect on how his experien...
Oct 15, 2024•33 min•Ep 146•Transcript available on Metacast Friends can help us get through life’s toughest moments. But a true friend remembers to smile about the good times. That’s why I wanted to revisit my conversation with the founder and CEO of Milk Bar, host of Netflix’s Bake Squad, and author of several cookbooks including Dessert Can Save the World, my dear friend Christina Tosi. Christina is the type of friend I can trust with anything, someone I can cry with. Together we reflect on the art of asking for help and why sometimes all we need from ...
Oct 08, 2024•39 min•Ep 145•Transcript available on Metacast Some people’s life stories are too crazy not to tell. So today, we’re revisiting one of my favorite episodes, my conversation with Molly Bloom. Her story is so riveting it's no surprise it became a star-studded Hollywood film. After her Olympic dreams were dashed, Molly wound up running an illegal, high-stakes poker game where hundreds of millions of dollars would change hands in a night. Molly made a lot of money. Celebrities, mafias, and federal informants soon took an interest in her and her ...
Oct 01, 2024•50 min•Ep 144•Transcript available on Metacast Grief can paralyze us. Most of us aren't given a manual about how to comfort someone grieving or how to ask for help with our own pain. That's why I wanted to revisit one of my favorite conversations, with Rabbi Sharon Brous. I talked with her about being present to someone else's pain and what it means to heal together in the loneliness epidemic. Considered one of the most influential rabbis in the U.S., she founded her own congregation and has led multiple White House faith events. In her book...
Sep 17, 2024•34 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast Vision, not skill, is the heart of creativity. But when a creative vision gets too big for one person, the key is to ask for help. Logic is a platinum-selling rapper who’s made waves in the hip hop world. After a troubled childhood, he started making music with a positive, introspective message, eventually receiving nominations for two Grammy Awards. But after achieving massive popular success, he decided to branch out into something different. Today, he writes science fiction novels, makes movi...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast The slums of Kenya are a tough place to grow up. Stealing a mango could get you killed. Kennedy Odede grew up in Kibera, Africa's largest urban slum. A street kid at age 10, he dreamed of factory work for 10 cents a day. But after stealing a mango out of hunger, a stranger's single act of kindness changed the course of his life. Today, Kennedy is the CEO and founder of Shining Hope for Communities, or SHOFCO. For 20 years, SHOFCO has empowered Kenya's poorest neighborhoods, helping over 4 millio...
Sep 10, 2024•36 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast Before Elon Musk rebranded Twitter, X was already in use — at Google. Google X was Google's secret research lab, where Google's most imaginative ideas came to life. As CEO and co-founder, Astro Teller's job is to harness X's wildest, most futuristic technology to solve the world's hardest problems. The same "moonshot factory" that created Google Brain and Waymo self-driving cars is also working on carbon capture, laser-beam Internet, delivery drones, and more. I sat down with Astro to discuss ho...
Sep 03, 2024•45 min•Ep 140•Transcript available on Metacast Business and poetry usually don't mix. But vulnerability has the power to bring teams together. Poet IN-Q has found an unlikely audience in business. A slam poetry veteran and accomplished songwriter, companies invite IN-Q to help strengthen their cultures. He works with teams to connect on a deeper level, using poetry to share something human. As he'll tell you, winning over crowds of skeptical businesspeople is an art. In this conversation, IN-Q takes me through a powerful exercise in vulnerab...
Aug 06, 2024•38 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast Our sense of smell has the deepest tie to emotion and memory. But it's also the most overlooked. In business, that's a giant missed opportunity. Dawn Goldworm knows how to use scent to evoke emotion and create loyalty. From Lady Gaga to Ferrari to books, Dawn designs signature fragrances that allow customers to connect with brands in a more meaningful way. A perfumer turned entrepreneur, her company 12.29 works with some of the biggest names in hospitality, fashion, automotive, and beyond. Many ...
Jul 30, 2024•45 min•Ep 138•Transcript available on Metacast Fierce competition can lead to burnout. How do we train ourselves to maintain excellence without giving in to the pressure to perform? High-performance psychologist Mike Gervais has a solution. He calls it mastery. Mike's approach to mastering our thoughts and emotions has helped Olympians win gold medals, the Seattle Seahawks win the Superbowl, and CEOs take their companies to the next level. Mike and I sat down to discuss the psychological tools to fine-tune our inner voices and why focusing o...
Jul 23, 2024•42 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast Classical music could use a little disruption. For Anastasia Kobekina, that means playing outside of its rigid forms. An accomplished soloist, Anastasia has played with prestigious orchestras all over the world. She also bangs on her cello, improvises with Vivaldi, and sings. I was thrilled to sit down with Anastasia to discuss her musical experimentations and to hear her play some pieces from her remarkable new album Venice. This...is A Bit of Optimism. To learn more about Anastasia and her mus...
Jul 16, 2024•38 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast 
