The James Altucher Show

David Bach is the author of "The Latte Factor: Why You Don't Have to Be Rich to Live" and "The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich." He'll teach you about the financial anxieties we create in our head, why they're dead wrong, how to relax, save and get ready for the life you imagine for yourself. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn w...

Scott Galloway quit everything in 1999. He quit his job, his marriage. "I didn't like my friends. I didn't like myself," he said. So he went out on his own. Two years later he felt like he was going to die. "I only left my loft for food, sex and to go to the ready-teller," he said. "An instinct kicks in that if you continue to do this, you're going to die early." He did the research. And found tha...

Jamie Metzl is a tech futurist, sci-fi writer, CIA think-tank participant, self-taught genomics expert, economist and more. His new book is "Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity" about the future of life on earth: the threats, the opportunities, the differences and predictions you'll never see coming (unless you click play). I write about all my podcasts! Check out the fu...

Eric Weinstein was going to drop out of college. But he got a degree... from Harvard. In mathematical physics. And now he's the Managing Director of Thiel Capital (Peter Thiel's investment firm). And he's the host of the new podcast "The Portal." In Part 1, we talk about his background. And in this episode (part 2), we talk about the hidden ways you're being suppressed, how to "unspin the world" a...

Eric Weinstein is the managing director of Thiel Capital. He has a Ph. D. from Harvard in mathematical physics. (Meaning, listening to him WILL make you smarter.) I asked him how he learned to think so clearly. Because too many of us are in a fog or sleep-deprived or on an emotional stress-induced roller coaster. So how do you get off? Eric explains: try being an imposter, look for the core princi...

Ramit Sethi's is the only person who will tell you exactly how to improve your behavior about money. He's direct. No BS. He's very honest about "the one thing you have to focus on to become a millionaire." You'll learn that in this episode. You'll also hear our heated debates about when and HOW to stop paying your credit card debt, what makes your 401K a (potential) scam, how to get rid of your fi...

Ramit Sethi is the bestselling author and coach of "I Will Teach You To Be Rich," a book that tells you the biggest money mistakes you make, the exact words you should use in a negotiation, how to spend money in a way that actually makes you happy and light up. And more.  We also did a part 2 (coming out soon) where we have such heated debates over when to stop paying your credit card debt, when 4...

We've been lied to. All of our lives, we were told that the most successful people in the world started young. And focussed on just one thing. LIES! David Epstein just wrote about this in his book, "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World." This book is proof that there are shortcuts to mastery. (And I bet you're already doing at least one of the shortcuts). In this episode, you'll h...

I'm jealous of Gabriel Weinberg. He wrote the book I WISH I wrote. It's called "Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models." This book has hundreds of mental models, cognitive biases, ect. This is a book I'm going to keep out and re-read pretty regularly. Because it explains why we think the way we think. Here are a few you'll hear about in this episode: how to force yourself into thinking crit...

Brad Thor used to work in the TV industry. Then he got married. And his wife asked him, "If you were on your death bed, what would you regret not doing?" He answered right away. Without thinking. "Write a novel," he said. Now he's written 19. And he's one of my all-time favorite thriller writers. He told me how he carved out time for his dream, what it's like to work on secret projects with the go...

People are scared to be brave. Not Susie Essman. She puts her guts out there. It's how she became a successful comedian and actor. And this is a serious model of success in any situation. Because you can't half-ass your business, your book, your life, your career. So I asked Susie "How do you get to that level of bravery?" "What should someone listening practice?" And she told me. - You can see Su...

This is part 2 with Humble the Poet. In part 1 we talk about how he quit his teaching job. And became an artist. In part 2, Humble tells me how he became an artist who serves a community AND profits.     I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.    Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The Ja...

Humble the Poet started out as someone who didn't know what he wanted to do in life. Then he became a teacher. He was good with kids. But there was too much bureaucracy in the job. So he quit. I asked him a bunch of "how" questions. "How did you quit?" "How did you start your side gig?" "How did you know you'd make money? or be successful." A lot of it was about following his intuition. And taking...

Scot Cohen has made millions from networking. But he used to have a hard time figuring out who was toxic and who was actually a good connection. So I asked him how what flipped the switch? He told me how he went from miserable job to millions off networking.    I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.    Thanks so much for listen...

I believe in bitcoin. But not everyone understands it. It's confusing. So Ben Mezrich wrote about it. But not in the boring way you've seen over and over again. Ben Mezrich is a thriller writer. So he found the drama. And shows you bitcoin's dark history and its bright future.   I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.    Thanks...

Jeff Garlin is an actor, known for playing Jeff Green (Larry David's sidekick) on Curb Your Enthusiasm (my favorite show!). He's also on The Goldberg and he's been doing stand up comedy for 37 years. But he didn't start out knowing he'd be successful. He just gave himself no other choice. "Because I had nothing to fall back on," he said. "My dad always used to say, 'Have something to fall back on....

Mike Reiss had a horrible boss. He'd call him up just to say, "XYZ sucks." He'd hold group meetings just to put his insults on display. "He was impossible," Mike said. But he dealt with it. Which seems like something a lot of people don't know how to handle. Mike gave me his tips and then also told me what life is like now. He's a co-founding writer of "The Simpsons." And he still flies to LA once...

He's back! Roger McNamee is a Silicon Valley veteran who's mentored everyone from Steve Jobs to Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg. And more. But he's not here to talk about their success. He's here to talk about the ways their success is crippling our freedom. And how to change that. Before it's too late (also, I should say, I'm never a fan of "doom and gloom" marketing. This is not that. This is educ...

Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, meditation advocate, he's the host of the "Making Sense" podcast and the New York Times bestselling author of "The End of Faith" "Waking Up," "The Moral Landscape" and more. This episode is long. But you can listen to it in piece if thats easier. Here are some of the subjects we talk about: irrational vs. rational thinking, expectations, anxiety, "the e...

Rich Karlgaard has done everything from dishwashing to running Forbes magazine. He was a late bloomer. And he wanted to hunt down other late bloomers. He gives a bunch of examples in this podcast. And wrote a book about this phenomenon titled, "Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement." I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I l...

Bishop T.D Jakes has served millions of people all over the world. He listens to their stories. And has learned this: "Pain always leaves a gift behind." And he wants to teach you how to find that gift. "Sometimes things happen to us that we did not choose," he said. This episode and T.D.'s new book, "Crushing" will help you deal with that truth.  I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full...

Caroline Hirsch is the owner and founder of the iconic Caroline's comedy club in Time Square New York. She's worked with Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Tracy Morgan, Amy Schumer, and all the greats. She told me about the pattern that great performers go through. But we also talked about a new project: "Ask For Jane." It's a film about the activists who worked secretly to help women get safe abortions a...

Pete Holmes wants to rearrange the molecular structure of your brain. NOT through science. He wants to do it through comedy. And masturbation jokes. "When my wife left me," he said, "I realized that comedy is noble. People are hurting and it's a good thing to do. I know I'm being a little bit high-hoped about stand-up, but good comedy can alchemize pain into pleasure. And I'm getting emotional, bu...

Mark Manson is the best selling author of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck." And now, his new book is, "Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope." Mark started this book when he got depressed. He wanted to find out what hope is and how we can get more of it. I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.    Thanks so much for listen...

Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google. Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page hired him to gear Google up for the IPO. But something happened. They told him, "You need a coach." Eric disagreed. He thought "I'm so great! You just hired me." Arrogance kicked in. And he forgot about all the potential he had. We all do this. For different reasons:  we're busy, we're tired, we think we know it all, ect...