The Best Podcast

Today’s podcast was inspired by a conversation I had with my wife within the last hour. She shared the pressure and agony that she endures in her work, to which I responded with an alternative approach to it all. It applies not just to creative work in my view, but to anything we do in this life. I hope you find some value in it and can play with the idea yourself. Thanks for listening. As always,...

What are your values? What do you believe and why? What are your principles for living a good life and approaching the various things you do? What is the life you are striving to build? These are some questions that guide high quality reflection that I think all of us should take time to ponder and write down. I share why in this episode, along with how I will be approaching this in 2026. Perhaps...

Today’s podcast is a recording of my latest Substack, which also serves as my most recent social media post. You can find it at mbest.substack.com/p/the-professional-phase . I elaborate on the phase of life in which I currently find myself and what I think it means. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is my longest one in some time. A friend of mine asked me thoughts on the state of the US and the world, which provoked a desire in me to just talk it out. I ramble my way through several topics, covering US economics, politics, history, and foreign policy, what’s happening around the world, and a critique of social media and its role in debilitating our thinking. It’s a lot to che...

Today was my first run in three weeks. In many ways, I paid for it, as it was quite a tough one to get through. Nevertheless, I managed myself and got through it, a little slower than usual, but unscathed. It brought my a few reflections as well, which I wanted to share here and hope bring you value. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a bit of a stream of consciousness exercise, in which I take a moment to reflect on my two weeks in my hometown and my trip back to the city this past weekend. A lot of good came from these two weeks, which excites me for what is to come as we start a new year. As always, thanks for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a long time in the making. After 948 episodes, I finally have my dad on for a conversation. We talk about his early years, his life story, being a father and what his father was like for him, his experience raising my brother and me, and much more. I hope you enjoy it and find some value in what he shared. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

The solution is so often to simply let time do its work. Our lack of patience tends to bring us further from our desired outcome rather than closer to it. I share my thoughts about this here, which I hope brings you some useful reflection. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Food and drink during the holidays can be a big challenge for us to manage. Trying to stick to a diet and manage our weight isn’t easy when so much is on a table before us. In this episode, I offer some thoughts on how I’ve managed this in the past, how I think about it now, and what I think it means for you. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Oh, how I wish we prioritized our minds and everything that goes into them. What a difference it would make for all of us as individuals, as well as the impact it would have on our societies as a collective. It’s a topic I can’t seem to shake, so here I am, discussing it yet again, with the hopes that I may turn a head or get someone who hasn’t thought deeply about this to start doing so. As alway...

Today’s podcast is a reflection from a recent conversation with my mother in law, where we talked about her persistent challenges and a possible solution to what she is facing. It’s a general practice that I wish all of us could practice in life, as it holds immense power for us to retrain ourselves, moving us away from suffering. I’m sure you’ll find something of value here. Thanks for listening....

A friend of mine has a way of being that I aspire to and think makes the world a better place. It’s an attitude that is refreshing and simple, but not necessarily easy to uphold. I share more about it in this episode, which I hope you chew on and consider integrating into your life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Coming from an admittedly biased person toward words and all things verbal, spending time at an art museum and listening to some classical music over the past few days was an extremely enriching and enjoyable experience. As I grow, I find these two art forms to be more and more engaging and valuable. I share a bit about my experience with them here, which I hope drives a useful reflection for you...

John Mayer was my most listened to artist this year. It wasn’t his first time occupying this spot, either. I take some time sharing what his music has meant to me at different points in my life before focusing on some lyrics to one song that is currently working its magic on me. I think you’ll find some value in what I share here, and perhaps you’ll be interested enough to listen for yourself. Tha...

Today’s podcast stems from some recent personal work I’ve been doing. Trying to articulate the events of my life from start to present has been cumbersome, but it has taught me a great deal so far, both about the process and about myself. I share some of those insights here, which I hope you find to be valuable. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is for the hard moments. Often when we want to lean away and exclude ourselves, isolating our problems from the world, what we really need is to lean in and share. Our friends and social networks are assets that help us to mend our suffering, making life much more bearable. I hope what I share here is of use to you as it has been to me. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️...

1800 days of writing and 939 podcasts have taught me so much. One thing in particular is the power of words, and more specifically, being able to use language to express ourselves and make sense of our internal worlds. I share the value of writing and speaking as a practice here, which I hope convinces you to incorporate a similar practice into your own life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much...

The latest Epstein file release has been eye-opening to say the least. Extremely successful men with moral bankruptcy, pursuing their vanity through the temptations of a mysterious man. It sparked quite a reflection for me, which I spend time sharing here. I’m sure it will bring a meaningful reflection to you as well. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

A new study just came out that explores the similarity between LLM and human responses across countries, seeking to test whether LLMs are less similar to humans in cultures that are more distant from the United States. The general answer they found was yes, they are less similar. However, as I thought about it, it provoked more questions than answers. I share more here, which I hope sparks some qu...

Today’s podcast finds me on the other side of a couple flights, moving me from New York to North Carolina on my way to Kentucky, a new state I’ve never visited before. New York and Kentucky are so different. Cityscapes are traded for long lawns for horse farms. People exist in both of these places, living such different lives. This recognition sparked a reflection for me, which I share here and ho...

I had a somewhat tense disagreement during a work meeting today. I continued to feel a knot in my stomach over it afterwards as I went for my run. Although it doesn’t feel great in the moment, I had some important realizations about it that I thought would be valuable to share here with you. I hope you find some value in it like I did. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take...

Today’s podcast is short and sweet, following the essence of its message. Sometimes life gets too complicated and we ask ourselves too many questions, spiraling out of control. Here, I offer a simple alternative for you to consider. I’m sure it will be useful to chew on. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Thank my wife for this episode! Our monthly check-in inspired some meaningful reflection about how I use this space, what it means to me, and how I can get better at prioritizing it. I share all of that and more here, which I hope you enjoy hearing. Thanks for tuning in. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a reflection on a fundamental practice and skill to which I wish more of us were exposed. Meditation makes such a difference in how we experience reality and ourselves, which I take time to describe here through some analogies and observations. I’m sure you’ll find something useful here. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post and quarterly review, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/quarter-three-2025 . I share a set of 40 lessons I learned (and relearned), which I hope at least one will spark your interest and get your really thinking. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.