The Tim Ferriss Show

Daredevil Michelle Khare lives life to the extreme in Challenge Accepted, amassing more than 6 million followers and more than 1 billion views. Across the show, you'll see Michelle attempt everything from Tom Cruise’s Deadliest stunt to Harry Houdini’s water torture cell to trying to earn a black belt in taekwondo in only 90 days.
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TIMESTAMPS:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:00:24] Challenge Accepted: The logline and why breakdowns stay in the edit.
[00:03:05] Growing up in Shreveport, LA: Friday night movies, the AFI Top 100, and interning on Snitch.
[00:06:15] Podcasting: While “easier” than writing books, it’s a heck of a lot more work than meets the ear.
[00:21:24] Quality over quantity: 8–10 episodes a year, scarcity as strategy, and building a defensible moat.
[00:31:47] “Hard choices, easy life.” — Jerzy Gregorek, calling the FAA 300 times, and why no one copies you when the barrier is insanity.
[00:35:32] Dartmouth to Google.org: the Fermi estimation faceplant and not getting the job.
[00:37:10] BuzzFeed as graduate school of the internet.
[00:40:37] Work for someone else first: My case against starting a company right out of school.
[00:47:28] The stolen book: Michelle pulls out a battered 2016 copy of The 4-Hour Workweek and reads her fear-setting chart aloud.
[00:51:10] “I’ve never designed my own rubric of success” — the nightmare, the repair plan, and what Michelle was putting off out of fear.
[00:56:59] Practicing poverty: studio apartment, stripped-down life, moonlighting for a year, then the three-month-savings leap.
[01:06:58] Kebab-shop destiny: meeting stunt coordinator Steve Brown in L.A. — now he does Avatar and straps Michelle to planes.
[01:09:04] Surface area for luck: Bill Gurley, Kevin Kelly’s sleeping bag, and Seneca on voluntary discomfort.
[01:12:44] Coach, mentor, cheerleader: the three-person Formula One team you actually need.
[01:17:20] The art of the cold email — and cold-calling the FBI tip line to meet “The Hollywood Guy.”
[01:21:55] Michelle’s three-paragraph, six-sentence formula for emails that open any door.
[01:26:15] My cold email playbook: the “via” trick, include your damn cell number, and why “Yo, Ferriss” is an auto-archive.
[01:36:24] The fake Tim Ferriss Podcast phishing scam: Zoom calls, screen access, and hijacked Facebook pages.
[01:40:58] Emailing Hank Green, Brandon Sanderson’s unpublished novels, and why your first cold emails are just practice reps.
[01:46:37] Michelle’s storytelling syllabus: Survivor, Snyder’s Save the Cat, and peer review of whatever went viral last week.
[01:48:44] The magic of Jeff Probst, and dissecting the bones of storytelling.
[01:53:12] John McPhee’s red-ink writing class at Princeton.
[01:58:38] Six Thinking Hats broke Michelle’s pessimism; Radical Candor taught her how to give feedback.
[02:07:20] The slinky org chart: Seven full-timers that balloon to 50 for a shoot, then compress right back.
[02:21:21] Scope creep, saying no to big checks, and why Michelle has never hit creator burnout.
[02:30:34] My No Book teaser: 850 pages on renegotiating commitments and getting back on the wagon.
[02:33:31] The Mindy Kaling manifesto: @MindyKalingFan, The Office, and shattering expectations for Indian women in entertainment.
[02:40:38] Wishlist shout-out: Norland College, where Mary Poppins meets Secret Service.
[02:42:48] Episodes Michelle would pay to relive.
[02:47:40] Episodes Michelle would pay to skip.
[02:52:15] Seven marathons, seven continents, one week.
[02:57:10] Free Solo, Alex Honnold in the creepy van, and things both of us would never do.
[03:00:38] Books gifted most: Radical Candor, The Great CEO Within, and Adam Grant’s Originals.
[03:01:21] Michelle’s billboard.
[03:02:45] A primetime Emmy run and parting thoughts.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
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Welcome back to another in-between-isode, with one of my favorite formats: the good old-fashioned Q&A.
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TIMESTAMPS:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:02:12] Why I tend to choose the dull edge over the bleeding edge of tech.
[00:04:27] Leopold Aschenbrenner: The closest thing to an AI Nostradamus.
[00:05:32] What humans still do better than AI.
[00:07:55] The bull and bear case for Alphabet.
[00:11:30] Three things for which you should never use AI.
[00:16:05] Can AI be as creative as humans?
[00:17:01] Rising above the AI content flood.
[00:19:19] Chris Hutchins on optimizing workflow with OpenClaw and Claude Code.
[00:22:02] AI under the hood at Team Ferriss
[00:26:37] Making career jumps in the age of AI displacement.
[00:30:20] Cultivating a respectful community of 1,000 True Fans
[00:34:49] Dog training as community management.
[00:36:03] My favorite color
[00:36:21] Coyote’s steady state and the future of Cockpunch/Varlata.
[00:38:03] Essential reading from my own bookshelf.
[00:40:48] Most breathtaking places I’ve visited.
[00:41:44] Optimizing time and networking effectively at conferences.
[00:47:34] Choosing what not to do when your company’s growing quickly.
[00:49:12] Psychedelic practitioner red flags (and why you should watch Kumaré).
[00:52:35] The career I’m pursuing in an alternative universe.
[00:53:29] Dog training the right way with Molly the rescue mutt and Susan Garrett.
[00:55:28] Thoughts on Enneagram for matchmaking.
[00:57:02] Quantum computing: Fascinating, terrifying, and probably not 30 years away anymore.
[00:58:18] Maintaining friendships across ideological lines.
[00:59:49] The compounding upsides to selective ignorance.
[01:02:04] In-common humor: The glue that binds the most resilient relationships.
[01:02:36] The inspiration behind my blog post about 20+ years of “optimizing.”
[01:04:28] Simple ways to make the world shine brighter.
[01:05:16] The No Book.
[01:05:37] The 18th question: “What is the most generous interpretation of this?”
[01:07:42] The best way I’ve found to experience a new city with limited time.
[01:08:18] How “Ozymandias” informs the priority I place on wealth accumulation.
[01:09:59] Relationships over riches.
[01:11:16] What I consider the top three values for kids: Optimism, resourcefulness, physical activity.
[01:13:04] Weirdness in the wilderness and succumbing to a shipwreck scam.
[01:14:21] Ask your best friends when they’ve seen you at your best — and what superpower you’re blind to.
[01:17:33] Is courage internal or external? Can it be learned?
[01:19:27] Parting thoughts.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to another wide-ranging "Random Show" episode that I recorded with my close friend Kevin Rose (digg.com)!
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00] A meditative start.
[00:02:19] Reflecting on our second Zen retreat in Santa Fe with Henry Shukman.
[00:04:08] Ketone liver warnings and eggplant allergies: The perils of raiding Kevin’s fridge.
[00:08:06] “Just be still” — three simple words that miraculously shut down my OCD.
[00:13:54] Is meditation secretly vagus nerve stimulation?
[00:20:17] DIY vagus nerve stim for $25 vs. Kevin’s $900 ear clip.
[00:24:57] HeartMath and watching your HRV move in real time.
[00:27:57] Marching toward 50: balance boards and the end of jiu-jitsu.
[00:31:26] Tony Hawk snowboarding Hokkaido with screws in his hip.
[00:33:01] Slacklining and why your nervous system needs sleep cycles.
[00:35:19] Bertolotti’s Syndrome: My six-year back pain gets a name.
[00:37:09] The nerve block test: everything wrong, zero pain.
[00:44:10] Abrahangs tendon protocol: 10 seconds on, 50 off.
[00:46:24] The NUG: a pocket hangboard for travelers.
[00:48:31] Craig Mod’s Japanese toothbrush and Toaster’s cameo.
[00:50:45] Kevin’s $92 vintage fire jacket: Blue Heritage Japan.
[00:54:26] Podcast picks: The Power Broker and STEM Talk.
[00:56:20] Alzheimer’s: A plaque or mitochondrial problem?
[00:57:30] 10 grams of ketones turns one-word answers into sentences.
[00:58:40] Methylene blue on Amazon: 120 years of research, zero guardrails.
[01:02:36] Bredesen Protocol, APOE genotyping, and a cognitive comeback.
[01:05:32] Photobiomodulation: $30k laser to the forehead.
[01:07:55] Urolithin A and the high price of mitochondrial upkeep.
[01:14:56] Recipe for disaster pants: espresso + creatine + MCT oil.
[01:17:39] Norwegian 4×4 training and lactate as a brain lever.
[01:23:15] Blood flow restriction bands and schwantz ring koans.
[01:29:08] Hummingbirds named Sunset and squirrel obstacle courses.
[01:32:06] Parting thoughts.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
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Many of us feel like we’re drowning in invisible complexity. So I wanted to hit pause and ask a simple question: What are 1-3 decisions that could dramatically simplify my life in 2026? To explore that, I invited five long-time listener favorites: Maria Popova, Morgan Housel, Cal Newport, Craig Mod, and Debbie Millman.
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:01:49] Maria Popova
[00:02:04] The Cherish Quotient: Stop giving hours to people who rank as “fine.”
[00:03:15] When you apologize for your priorities, you’re apologizing for your life. Stop!
[00:04:41] Morgan Housel
[00:04:50] The do-nothing thesis: Be average long enough and you’ll end up in the top 1%.
[00:08:42] Read more history, fewer forecasts — and watch the news lose its power over you.
[00:09:32] How Stephen King’s 11/22/63 illustrates the futility of prediction.
[00:12:21] Cal Newport
[00:12:36] What deserves a “yes” when the default is “no?”
[00:16:38] Deep Work sells two million copies and creates a schizophrenic double life.
[00:19:07] The unifying insight: Both careers were always about technology and human flourishing.
[00:24:07] Craig Mod
[00:24:46] How quitting alcohol has been Craig’s highest-ROI decision.
[00:27:13] Therapy after a decade of sobriety: The cliché that actually cleared the water.
[00:30:27] The compounding interest that comes from committing to one craft.
[00:33:09] Debbie Millman
[00:34:30] How being offered the CEO seat at her company led to four months of paralysis.
[00:36:10] The sentence that broke the spell: “If it takes four months, you probably don’t want it.”
[00:37:38] Ambition changes shape: Validation isn’t fulfillment, and power isn’t purpose.
More about today's guests:
Maria Popova (@mariapopova) thinks and writes about our search for meaning, lensed sometimes through science and philosophy, sometimes through poetry and children's books, always through wonder. She is the creator of The Marginalian (born in 2006 under the name Brain Pickings), which is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. Her books and projects include Traversal, The Universe in Verse, Figuring, The Coziest Place on the Moon, and An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days.
Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) is a partner at The Collaborative Fund. His book The Psychology of Money has sold more than three million copies and has been translated into 53 languages. Morgan is also the author of Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes and The Art of Spending Money.
Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, where he is also a founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics. In addition to his academic work, Newport is a New York Times bestselling author who writes for a general audience about the intersection of technology, productivity, and culture. His books have sold millions of copies and been translated into over forty languages. He is also a contributor to The New Yorker and hosts the popular Deep Questions podcast. His latest book is Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.
Craig Mod (@craigmod) is a writer, photographer, and walker living in Tokyo and Kamakura, Japan. He is the author of Things Become Other Things and Kissa by Kissa. He also writes the newsletters Roden and Ridgeline and has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired, and more.
Debbie Millman (@debbiemillman) has been named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company and one of the most influential designers working today by Graphic Design USA. She is the host of Design Matters—a great show and one of the world’s longest-running podcasts. She is also chair of the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, editorial director of Print magazine, a Harvard Business School Case Study, and a member of the board of directors at the Joyful Heart Foundation.
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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
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Jim Collins has published multiple international bestsellers that have sold in total more than eleven million copies worldwide, including the perennial favorite Good to Great. His new book is What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire, and the Self-Knowledge Imperative.
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Timestamps:
[00:00:00] Start.
[00:02:43] More energy at 68 than 37: Jim’s mysteriously expanding battery.
[00:04:57] Two mornings a day.
[00:08:24] How Marcelo Garcia avoids the “simmering six.”
[00:10:24] The portable coffee ritual.
[00:12:44] Side passions of high performers: Disco dancing, the occult, and Sunday school.
[00:18:20] Genesis of “What to Make of a Life” and the sage down the hall: John W. Gardner.
[00:20:51] Joanne’s IRONMAN triumph: winning by 90 seconds on a shattered hamstring — then the cliff.
[00:26:01] Cliff events, matched pairs, and the bigger question that swallowed the smaller one.
[00:31:35] The fog-clarity inversion: clear on life, foggy on projects.
[00:34:56] Fog happens to everyone — don’t freak out about it.
[00:40:38] Jim’s wife’s one-word review of life with him.
[00:47:29] When the fire went from red molten rage to a green-yellow warming glow.
[00:54:18] Encodings vs. strengths: The window frame metaphor and John Glenn’s click moment.
[01:01:49] My encoding candidates.
[01:08:07] 70 points on trust: Discovering your encodings matters, but trusting them matters more.
[01:12:43] Enneagram as an acceptable horoscope for tech guys.
[01:15:21] The 1,000 creative hours rule and Warren Buffett’s punch card: Life is the ultimate finite resource.
[01:23:37] “The most wonderful, disappointing answer”: How Jim’s team says no with grace.
[01:27:14] Right people, right seats, encoded edition: When management angst shrinks to almost nothing.
[01:38:23] Return on luck deep dive: What luck, who luck, and zeit luck.
[01:46:24] Natalie moments: Not all time in life is equal.
[01:46:52] Maximizing surface area of luck, return on luck, and Jim’s chain of who luck.
[02:04:47] Cardiss Collins and return on bad luck: Cliff events that expose encodings you never knew you had.
[02:08:33] A warning for founders: Sell your company, lose a decade — the cliff nobody plans for.
[02:11:23] “An option to come back has negative value”: Irv Grousbeck’s counterintuitive wisdom.
[02:14:22] Signing the Declaration as a death warrant: When there’s no option, the mind focuses.
[02:16:01] The hunt for Roger Sherman: Choosing matched pairs and the man who saved the Constitution twice.
[02:20:48] The mythology of youthful creativity: Jim’s rebuttal — Toni Morrison wrote Beloved at 56.
[02:34:35] Flipping the arrow of money: Is money fuel for your work, or is your work fuel for money?
[02:38:42] Commonwealth Club event: Jim Collins live in San Francisco, April 9th.
[02:39:44] The ultimate definition of success: “My spouse likes and respects me evermore as the years go by.”
[02:43:08] A plus-two day and parting thoughts.

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For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.
For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors
Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.
For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.
Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.
Follow Tim:
Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss
Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.