First Principles

You've been told belly fat is just about calories in, calories out. That's only half the story. In this episode, Adrian Wells breaks down the seven evidence-based strategies that actually target stubborn belly fat, backed by real research instead of Instagram fitness myths. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why intermittent fasting reduces belly fat by 4-7% in just 6 weeks (and the specific timing that work...

Here's the podcast description: What if everything you believe about love is actually making you lonelier? Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton drops a truth bomb: our romantic expectations, rooted in 18th-century Romanticism, are sabotaging modern relationships. In this eye-opening episode, Adrian Wells breaks down why we're failing at love and what actually works. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why Romant...

That brown mess in your toilet bowl? It's basically your gut's daily report card. Most people flush and forget, but gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz says you're missing critical health intel every single day. In this episode, Adrian Wells breaks down the science of what your poop is actually telling you about your body. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • The Bristol Stool Chart doctors use worldwide an...

What if crying before every game was actually the sign of greatness, not weakness? Thierry Henry scored 228 goals for Arsenal and won the 1998 World Cup, but behind the glory, he was battling depression so severe he'd lock himself in hotel rooms and cry. Adrian Wells breaks down how elite performance and mental health create a paradox most people never see. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why 35% of elite...

What if the technology you use every day is rewiring society for conflict? Historian Yuval Noah Harari reveals the disturbing pattern hiding in plain sight, and Adrian Wells breaks down why this matters for how we think about our future. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why false news spreads 6x faster than truth on social media (and what this means for society) • The historical pattern that connects rapid...

What if everything you think you know about building wealth is backwards? While everyone's chasing the next unicorn startup, Codie Sanchez is quietly building millions by buying the most boring businesses you can imagine. Adrian Wells breaks down her contrarian playbook that's generating 15-30% annual returns while tech bros burn through venture capital. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why businesses sell...

Right now, you're reading this on a device that's literally reshaping your brain. And if you've been sitting while scrolling, you've just reduced blood flow to your prefrontal cortex by up to 20%. Adrian Wells breaks down the neuroscience that'll make you rethink everything about your daily habits. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why heavy smartphone users show measurable gray matter loss in attention and...

Why are your single friends secretly keeping you single? Adrian Wells breaks down shocking research showing how your social circle controls way more of your life than you realize. Turns out, behaviors like relationship status, weight gain, and even happiness spread through friend groups like a virus. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why obesity spreads through social networks with mathematical precision (H...

Ninety percent of people who exercise to lose weight end up frustrated. In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with Dr. Jason Fung to uncover why your daily gym sessions aren't dropping the pounds and what actually works instead. Turns out, we've been sold a pretty big lie about calories in versus calories out. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why people overestimate exercise calories by 300-400% (and wha...

What if that morning meltdown isn't just your kid being difficult, but their gut bacteria sending distress signals to their brain? Adrian Wells sits down with Harvard research that's flipping everything we thought we knew about ADHD, autism, and the food on your dinner table. This isn't another "eat your vegetables" lecture. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why kids with ADHD have completely different gut...

What if everything you know about running, breathing, and sitting is completely backwards? Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman just shattered some pretty fundamental assumptions about how our bodies actually work. Adrian Wells sits down with the professor who's been studying human evolution for decades, and the revelations are pretty wild. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why humans can literal...

What if everything you think you know about physical attraction is dead wrong? Research has uncovered something fascinating: there's a specific body measurement that consistently drives attraction across every culture studied. In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with relationship expert Paul Brunson to unpack the science behind the 0.7 waist-to-hip ratio and why it might be hardwired into our...

Your morning cup of coffee is rewiring your brain in ways that might surprise you. In this eye-opening episode, Adrian Wells breaks down five seemingly harmless daily habits that are quietly sabotaging your cognitive health, plus the science-backed strategies to protect your brain for the long haul. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why sleeping less than 6 hours literally shrinks your brain by 2-3 years of...

What if I told you that 98% of people fail not because they don't work hard enough, but because they're getting the fundamentals of success completely backwards? Adrian Wells breaks down Adam Grant's most eye-opening research that flips everything you think you know about achievement on its head. Turns out, the people who make it to the top 2% aren't who you'd expect. They procrastinate (but not t...

What if the dating app designed to be deleted is actually keeping 73% of its users single? In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with Hinge's CEO to uncover the brutal truth about modern dating and the three counterintuitive strategies that actually work. The data is shocking: only 27% of matches turn into real conversations, and just 8% of those lead anywhere meaningful. But here's what nobody...

Think the average couple has sex three times a week? You're off by about 200%. The real number will surprise you, but what matters more is why most couples are asking the wrong question entirely. In this episode, Adrian Wells breaks down the research on sexual frequency and reveals what actually predicts relationship satisfaction. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • The one-per-week reality for American coupl...

What if the memory experts who can memorize 2,808 playing cards in perfect order are actually warning us away from their gift? Adrian Wells sits down with world memory champions who reveal the shocking downside of extraordinary recall. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why Dominic O'Brien, who holds 8 world memory records, says perfect recall nearly destroyed his relationships • The neuroscience behind hype...

What if the $100k business formula everyone talks about is actually backwards? Most entrepreneurs chase revenue when they should be chasing influence first. In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with Daniel Priestley, who's built multiple businesses from zero to multi-million dollar valuations, to break down the real method that's helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs across 40+ countries. 🎯 What Yo...

What if a simple hand squeeze could predict how long you'll live? Exercise scientist Andy Galpin drops some uncomfortable truths that might flip everything you think you know about fitness. Adrian Wells sits down with Galpin to break down why your evening workout could be destroying your sleep and how something as basic as grip strength beats blood pressure at predicting your mortality. 🎯 What Yo...

Your gut instinct just failed a CIA test. Andrew Bustamante, ex-CIA operative, reveals that our intuition gets it wrong 87% of the time when making critical decisions. In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with Bustamante to unpack the psychological tricks intelligence agencies use to outsmart human bias and why your brain might be your worst enemy when it comes to reading people and situations....

63% of men under 30 are single. Suicide rates for young men have spiked 35% since 2000. Boys get prescribed ADHD meds at three times the rate of girls. Adrian Wells sits down with Dr. K to unpack what's really behind this crisis: we've accidentally engineered a generation of isolated, addicted young men. This isn't your typical "men are struggling" conversation. Dr. K breaks down the specific syst...

Wait until you hear what happens when researchers tracked 10,000 couples for 15 years to find the exact marriage age that cuts divorce risk by 73%. In this episode, Adrian Wells breaks down the science behind timing your biggest life decision and why everything you think you know about "when you know, you know" might be completely backwards. The data doesn't lie: there's a statistical sweet spot t...

What if the health advice you've been following is actually based on flawed studies? Adrian Wells sits down with Dr. Layne Norton, a nutrition scientist with 40+ published research papers, who's about to blow up everything you think you know about calories and Diet Coke. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why the "Diet Coke causes weight gain" studies are misleading (the real data tells a different story) •...

Ever notice how some people seem to get exactly what they want, while you're left wondering what just happened? Adrian Wells sits down with master manipulator Robert Greene to expose the psychological tricks being used on you every single day. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • The jealousy hack that makes people 40% more likely to buy something (and why your brain can't resist it) • How to spot the 5,000+ d...

What if everything you've been told about childhood trauma is actually keeping you trapped? Dr. Paul Conti, one of the world's leading trauma experts, just shattered ten myths that millions of people still believe. In this episode, Adrian Wells sits down with Dr. Conti to reveal why conventional wisdom about trauma recovery is often dead wrong. Here's what's shocking: about 60% of adults worldwide...