The Best Podcast

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...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest piece on Substack, which you can find at www.mbest.substack.com/p/evolving-happiness . I approach the topic of happiness through the lens of humanity’s evolutionary history and identify some suggestions for how to manage modernity in a way that integrates our past. I hope you find some value in this piece that you can apply to your life. Thanks for listeni...

Today’s podcast starts with a quick tip about how I’ve started reading more this year. Despite the title, I use this small change as a segue into what I’ve noticed has been the value of reading more for me as a person, both for myself and in my relationships. I hope you find some value in this idea. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, which you can find at www.mbest.substack.com/p/start-right . I dig into an approach to the new year that diverges from what we normally hear out in the world, but is nevertheless one I believe in because of the power it holds if we truly engage with it. I hope you think so too after listening and/or reading! Thanks for tuning in. As always...

I just had the immense pleasure of sharing my home and my city with Jordan, one of my dearest friends, over the last couple of weeks. To round out his trip, we sat and talked about his experience here, his reactions to Rio, his takeaways from the trip, our friendship, and more. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find some insights of your own in it. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️...

Today’s podcast is a personal reflection on what I’ve learned about balancing the deeper and lighter parts of relationships. I used to be someone who highly and intensely prioritized the profound, but I’ve grown to see value in the lighter, less serious parts of relationships. I share how I’ve evolved and see this now in this episode, which I hope you find to be valuable. Thanks for listening. As...

Today’s podcast is a summary of my last few days. They’ve been full of new, fresh experiences that got me thinking and feeling a great deal. Hikes through favelas, iconic fireworks, and quality time with friends has made for an intriguing phase. I hope you like and resonate with what I’m learning. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest post on Substack, which you can see at www.mbest.substack.com. I reflect on how others experience me, and how that often leads them to not see all of me as I would wish. I hope you find value in it and that it may lead you to rethink some of your own relationships. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today’s podcast digs into a recent bout of beating myself up over life taking me down a road that I feel I could have prevented if I truly thought before going down it. This is seemingly a universal experience, but how to manage them is something many of us seem to struggle with despite the experience’s universality. I have some ideas for how to manage these struggles, which I share today and hope...

This year has been full of high highs and low lows for me in terms of my fitness. I went from being in the best shape of my life to an appendectomy with complications that sidelined me from exercise for months. At the end of the year now, I’ve gotten back to where I was, and perhaps even beyond my previous best. I’m so grateful for what taking care of myself physically has done for me, although my...

Today’s podcast explores some recent feelings of nerves and anxiety. I introspect a bit about why I’m feeling this, what the meaning of it is, and how I am trying to use it as a positive force. The persistent nature of uncertainty in our lives is quite interesting to me, as it truly is ever-present. We are the only antidote to this uncertainty and what it causes inside of us. Thanks for listening....

In today’s podcast I look back on the last five years or so of living my life off of social media. It has afforded me so many benefits, and yet there are still some “what if” questions I ask myself about missed opportunities from that decision. It’s a lot to think about, which is why I wanted to talk through it out loud here. I’m sure you’ve been in a situation or had thoughts about something in a...

Today’s podcast details a recent learning I was able to encapsulate into an idea that I think is easy to understand. Interacting and communicating in a responsive versus dismissive manner can make a big difference, so I share what I mean by each term here, along with what it sounds like to be responsive versus dismissive. I hope you find this to be as valuable as it was for me. Thanks for listenin...

Today’s podcast is a recording of me reading my latest piece on Substack, titled Tantalizing, which you can find at mbest.substack.com/p/tantalizing . I share the origins of the word from Greek mythology, some observations on human suffering, and a path through tantalizing experiences. I hope you find value in this and that it serves you well. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and plea...

Today’s podcast spontaneously came to me thanks to a local open air market I passed through this morning. I heard two saxophonists playing the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, which was the song played at the funerals of my maternal grandfather and grandmother. It was a lovely reminder of how beautiful a song it is and the power of its message and frame, which brings me to the reflections I share h...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, titled Truth: According to Gandhi, which you can see at mbest.substack.com/p/truth . Gandhi presents an idea and way of being that really resonates with me, which he articulates quite well on the last page of his autobiography. I revisit this page today and share some of my thoughts on what I think it means for us. Thanks for listening. As a...

Today’s podcast is a spontaneous one of something that I had been thinking about a bit today. We could all benefit from asking more questions and listening to others’ perspectives. There is so much knowledge and experience around us that goes to waste because we don’t give it the opportunity to circulate, which is why I wanted to discuss this topic here. I hope you find it useful and inspiring. Th...

Today’s podcast is a reading of my latest article from my Substack, which you can see here: https://mbest.substack.com/p/election-2024-reactions. It’s a dip into politics, which I normally don’t do here but felt compelled to because a number of people asked for my thoughts. I hope you find it to be useful or thought provoking in some way. Even if you disagree, I’m grateful for your time listening...