The Best Podcast

What can we learn from a former prisoner of war’s experience in isolation during the Vietnam War? Well, the answer is a lot if you ask me. In a time where so many of us may feel or have felt more isolated than ever, there are ways to make the most of it and to come out with a smile on the other side. That’s the focus of today’s podcast. I hope you enjoy! Thank you for listening. It means the world...

Today’s podcast is a recording of a recent post I put out on social media about my experiences with love, highlighting my most recent endeavor. Writing this out was particularly meaningful for me, and I hope that comes out in this episode. I hope you enjoy it and can take something from it. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care

Today’s podcast is a return to a format that debuted in episode 222 - Q&A! The questions were pulled from a list of questions to ponder that is housed on my website (mattbest.net/thoughts). I hope you enjoy this format and the reflections that arise from it! If you like the podcast, PLEASE give it a rating and submit a review on whatever podcast platform you use. It would mean the world to me. As...

Well... that was intense. Today’s episode was quite a heavy one, but also an absolutely necessary one. Telling the truth and prioritizing the truth has become a central tenet of my life over the last few years. This was by no means an easy process, but it was so worthwhile. This is the tale of my experiences with lying, how it affected me, and why I’m now so convinced that telling the truth and no...

The topic of improving ourselves is something about which I find myself thinking quite often, yet it is not something I have discussed much recently on the podcast. Yet I think that now more than ever, we need to have these thoughts and actions in the forefront of our minds. This episode is impassioned and strong, and reasonably so. I hope that you can take something from it and take a step to mak...

In today’s episode, I take the hard venture into discussing the current state of the world in which we are living. These thoughts were brief, but I felt they had to be expressed in some way given the magnitude of the situation. If you want to hear more from me about this, please email me at matt@mattbest.net. I’d love to hear from you. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a short one, yet it’s significance should not be underestimated. So often, we find ourselves worrying or getting anxious about an upcoming deadline or a task we want to do. We may even find ourselves questioning how to start or complaining about the task or deadline. But how should we respond to this anxiety? The answer to the question is the focus of this episode. I hope you en...

Today’s podcast is the exploration of a topic I’ve been ruminating on for some time now. The balance between contentment and discontent is a deliberate focus of a number of the most effective people I know who simultaneously live very meaningful lives. It’s a pursuit which I have grown to admire deeply in others. So with that in mind, I tried to articulate the elements of this balance and strategi...

When others do wrong to us, how should we react? Should we let it go? Should we seek revenge? Should we respond with spite and scorn? Should we reciprocate the wrong-doing but to a lesser degree? This is a challenging question with which humans have been grappling for millennia. Nevertheless, it does not cease to be relevant. So in today’s episode, I discuss this question and its implications. I h...

Today’s podcast is an intense one. Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve been having a number of conversations as usual, but I have noticed a common theme arising again and again. And that is this: Doing the right thing is enough. Living virtuously is enough. We heard it millennia ago, and it certainly still holds true, and will continue to hold true. It’s something we all struggle with in one momen...

Today’s podcast was a really fun one to record. I haven’t tackled the topic of relationships all too much on this podcast to date, but I think that this episode does so quite furiously. Tune in to find out why I think that’s the case! I hope you’re staying well and taking exceptionally good care of yourself during this time. If there was ever a time for it, it is certainly now. As always, Much Lov...

Today’s podcast is my reflection on a mantra which Tom Hanks articulated in a podcast I listened to last week. I found it to be particularly powerful and insightful, and for that reason I wanted to share it here with you. I hope you enjoy the thoughts that I brought to the table here through this quote. Thanks for tuning in and for your continued support. It means the world to me. As always, Much...

The way in which we feel emotionally can impact us so much. The moods and states we experience can influence the decisions we make, the way we think, and how we carry ourselves with others. So wouldn’t it be great if we could have more positive moods and states with greater consistency? This question is the focus of today’s podcast, and I hope that you take some tangible learnings away from this....

Today’s episode is about a thought that I’ve consistently come back to over the last 5 years. Why do we take offense? Should we take offense? What’s the best way to go about a situation in which someone is trying to offend you? I take on these questions here in this podcast, and I hope you find the points I make to be useful and thought provoking. As always, Much Love ❤️. And please, take great ca...

Today’s podcast is one of the more personally human episodes that I’ve recorded. In it, I detail a couple of my most recent struggles that I’ve been trying to manage in my work. Recording it had two purposes: (1) to allow me to make more sense of what I’m experiencing and to think through solutions, and (2) to provide some insight with which you may resonate and from which you could potentially re...

This is a topic I’ve been sitting on for some time. It’s an unpopular opinion, I know. However, I hope that you give it a chance and find some value in it by the end of the episode. Thank you for listening and for giving this idea a fair shot. I sincerely hope that it resonates with you in some way. As always, Much Love ❤️. And additionally, please take care during this time. It is paramount.

During a challenging time like this, taking care of ourselves is of critical importance. This self-care comes in many forms, and the psychological one is certainly a big piece. So in today’s podcast, I discuss what true self-care is (and what it isn’t), along with some key areas of focus. I hope this is valuable and practical information for you to put into action during this time. Thanks so much...

“With nothing as its useful purpose, how could it experience hardship?” This quote brought me a whirlwind of reflection when I read it a few weeks ago. I found it to be quite relevant to the current moment and thus wanted to dive into it. I hope that you find this to be an interesting monologue that makes you reflect deeply as well. Instead of describing my thoughts here, I will leave that to the...

Today’s podcast was really enjoyable for me to record, as I got to talk about things that I love - food and good cooking. Cooking has become such a fundamental part of my life over the past few years, and it has brought me so much joy. In this episode, I talk through the reasons why, along with why I think that what it takes to cook well serves as a great analogy for what it takes to live well. I...

The topic of today’s episode arises out of the current situation in which the world finds itself. With great uncertainty and challenge, we need affirmations for us to fall back on as we push forward through the difficulties. In this episode, I talk through why I believe this and some affirmations that I fall back on myself. I hope you find value in this during these trying times. As always, Much L...

Today’s episode is a reading of a quote by Carl Sagan, which he wrote in his book “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”. I personally find this quote to be brilliant, as it invokes a much deeper perspective than we often experience in our everyday lives. I hope you resonate with the quote and that it invokes some deep reflection for you. As always, I deeply appreciate you listenin...

Today’s podcast is a short manifesto on an error I’ve seen in our education system and our general societal system of raising people. The topic of human dynamism is something I believe that we do not highlight enough in the education of youth and in life in general. With that in mind, I wanted to break down the reasons why and the potential significant benefits it could have on individuals and soc...

Today’s podcast is a recording of a new articles on my blog titled “2020”, which you can find at mattbest.net/theplatform/2020. To sum it up, it is an articulation of the process I used to set my goals for 2020 and the actual goals I have set for myself. As I say in the podcast, I hope that this inspires you and that this holds me accountable to achieve the goals myself. As always, thanks so much...

I’m back! After 2 weeks of disconnecting and turning my focus elsewhere, I’m excited to return to the podcast and to have a fresh headspace to embark on the episodes that are to come. This episode serves as a transition out of that disconnection, as I preview what is to come and what I am envisioning for future episodes. I hope you enjoy it and that you stick around for the episodes to come! It’s...

This episode is a brief update on where things are for me at the moment. It’s a bit of a throwaway by my standards, but I do believe that it’s a fair one. There’s a lot I could have said here in reaction to what has been going on in my life recently, but those reactions will come in the future as I make better sense of them. I also throw out two key asks at the end, so please stick around for thos...