The Best Podcast

Today’s podcast is about a part of me that others might consider to be insufferable. I can’t seem to watch a Netflix show or a movie without perceiving a high opportunity cost. I always find myself thinking about how else I could be spending my time, and then when I look back afterwards, I notice how far behind spending my time that way brought me. It’s far from what most people are used to, which...

Today’s podcast is a recording of both my latest Substack post (https://mbest.substack.com/p/day-1564) and my latest journal entry. I’m now running on 1564 days in a row of daily writing, so this episode will give you a good look at what this looks like for me now and how I’m thinking about it. This is a meaningful inflection point for me, so I hope you find some value in my thoughts. Thanks for l...

Last time, I spent some time sharing my discontent with where the world is and where it’s going. While I still uphold what I said, I think it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Today, I share another piece, which I think should carry much more weight in where we place our attention, particularly when times are tough. I hope you enjoy it and find it to be a useful reset. Thanks for listening. As alway...

Today, I wanted to take some time to document my thoughts on the current moment. With the new tariffs released, there are big implications for what this means for the world, the US, and for what the US represents. I share my perspective on it from where I sit and what I think lies ahead for us, as unfortunate as that projection may be. Anyways, I hope you find some value in hearing my reflections....

Every once in a while, the dots connect in a beautiful and coherent manner when I stand in front of the microphone to record another episode of this podcast. If I were a betting man, I would wager that this episode will be one of the times when that was the case looking back. Hopefully you’ll feel mutually after listening. Thanks for your time. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see at https://mbest.substack.com/p/conflict . I start by digging into the history of conflict, both for humans and the animals before us in our evolutionary tree, which then leads me to a discussion of conflict in modern times. I end with what I think the implications are for us and how we should manage conflict in our lives....

Today’s podcast comes on the other side of some intense and very present days in my life. Attending an all-day workshop two days in a row with dinners immediately after meant long days, but they also meant the opportunity to build meaningful relationships and do meaningful work. I reflect on these two aspects of life in particular, and why it’s so important to invest into them. I hope it proves an...

Today’s podcast reviews a topic of conversation that came up last night with some colleagues in the behavioral science field. The question of how to get people on board to apply newer ideas like ours can be challenging, so I shared what I’ve learned as a useful frame for doing so. Curiously enough, the approach I share is quite generalizable across a number of situations, so I take some time to ar...

So much is going on right now. US Politics is rocking the country and the world around it. Major economic changes are reaching a cusp. AI continues to evolve and progress. And then all of us continue to try to work and live day to day as it unfolds. It’s a complicated time with a lot of processing we would benefit from doing, but without the time to do it, it would appear. I share my thoughts on w...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can find at https://mbest.substack.com/the-substance . I review the movie The Substance and share my five main takeaways. It was a very thought provoking experience, so I wanted to invest some time into reflecting on what I think it means for us. I hope you find it insightful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and pleas...

Today’s podcast is a follow-up to my most recent episode. The first week of March was an eventful one, both for me and Rio de Janeiro. Carnaval brings a special air to the city, along with over a million extra tourists from around the world who drink in the experience. I share what that experience was like for me this year and my observations, which I hope you enjoy listening to here. Thanks for y...

After spending an amazing week with close friends from the US here in Rio, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on that time with them and what it meant to me. Friendship is such a special thing, and I value it so highly in my life. This time with them rejuvenated me and left me with feelings of deep gratitude and joy. I share a bit about why in today’s episode, which I hope you enjoy. Thanks...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest article on Substack, titled “The Shadow”, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/the-shadow . I dive into the concept of the shadow and how engaging with it can help us better understand who we are and become more integrated versions of ourselves. I hope you find it to be an insightful piece. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Lov...

Today’s podcast reflects on what I used to be super fired up about, lost a bit along the way, and am now finding again as I start the year, but this time with more depth and nuance. These cycles in life are quite beautiful, in my view, which I hope you can perceive in this episode. Life truly offers so much to us. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, Run, which you can see here: mbest.substack.com/p/run. I’m the article, I talk through my journey to running and what the keys for me were to become a runner. In my post-read reflection, I share some of my thoughts on the way meditation has combined with running for me and the beauty of observing the mind with the body in motion. I hope yo...

Today’s podcast is a reflection from Gabi and me on our wedding as we officially pass the two-year mark. We talk about what we remember from the day after our wedding, the wedding itself, and how we have changed since then. The conversation then turns to our views on personality growth and how malleable we are, meditation and its power, and Gabi’s “nervous legs” which turned out to be new for me....

Today’s podcast is a 2-part episode. I start with a little review of the weekend and the good stuff I got out of it, which then peels into a little monologue about the games we play socially and our lack of intimacy. We often perceive significant costs to being intimate with others, which I challenge here, given there are many unseen costs to avoiding intimacy. I hope you find some value in the me...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see at https://www.mbest.substack.com/quarter-four-2024 . There were 51 points that I pulled out of my review, which I hope you find to be useful and illuminating. Thanks for reading and listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a wandering stream of consciousness in which I reflect on my very busy past week. I’ve had a lot on my plate, which I share a bit about and how I’ve balanced it, bringing me to some points about focus, gratitude, and the bigger picture of purpose at play for me. I hope you find it insightful and useful! Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast starts with a reading of my latest Substack piece, which you can find here: https://mbest.substack.com/p/the-river-of-life . It’s more artistic and poetic than I’m used to writing on this blog, but I felt compelled to write in this way this week, so here I am! After the reading, I share some of my thoughts that go against what I share in the piece, or at least provide more context...

Today marks my 1,500th consecutive day of writing in my journal. When you add it up, I’ve spent the equivalent of over 20 entire days just writing during that period. In this episode, I reflect on what this process has meant to me and what I’ve learned along the way. It has truly become a part of me, which I’m sure you’ll be able to hear in my voice. I hope this leaves you feeling inspired to refl...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/values?r=2c9gzu&utm_medium=ios . I discuss values from four different angles, which stem from my reflections and use of them over the years. I hope you find these ideas to be applicable and useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I recently shaved my face and just left a mustache. I haven’t seen my chin in nearly eight years, so it was good to know it’s still there when I got rid of the beard that covered it for so long. In this episode, I reflect on this experience of significantly changing my external appearance, which then pulls me into some reflections on my identity, emotions, and thoughts. I think this is one of my b...

Today’s podcast revisits a topic I discussed very early on in the history of The Best Podcast, in Episode 148 to be exact. In that episode, I espoused a view about epigenetics that was fairly naive and uninformed from what I would have aspired to then and aspire to even more now. I did some more reading about the topic to go more in depth on it, only to discover that this view was quite unfounded....

Today’s podcast digs into an observation of us and of myself. It’s so easy to consume content, especially when it’s infinitely available. However, we need processing time to make sense of everything that we consume, which is much harder for us to make time for because of our current information environment. I share more about this here, which I hope you find useful and interesting. Thanks for list...