The James Altucher Show

I don't diet. It's a distraction. My rule is simple. Don't eat when you're not hungry. But that's not always easy. Nothing is always easy. With diet, you have an internal argument. Willpower versus cravings. So what do you do when the voice in your head won't stop? You struggle. Your mind plays ping pong. Eat it. Don't it. One bite. No. Yes. Ok. Damn it. Only one side wins. Willpower or cravings....

He self-medicated. He covered stories in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. He went to Iraq six or seven times. When he got back, he was depressed. He was 32 years old and had never touched hard drugs before. But it became the thing that made him feel better. Millions of people were watching. The red light was on. And right there, in the middle of his live segment, he had a pa...

"I remember it like it was yesterday. It was Good Friday, 1989, at 3:30 in the afternoon. It was 37 degrees outside. I stood outside the Colosseum Mall, a mall in Jamaica, Queens. It's pretty popular. Just shivering with a bag of hats. I sold $800 worth of hats in an hour," Daymond John tells me. $800 an hour. That's "the power of broke." Before FUBU (a $6 billion global apparel company), before S...

I was always good at making money. I was also good at losing it instantly. I always went broke... Now I know why. What was I was doing wrong? I'll tell you. Because I bet you're making the same mistake. But first, I'll tell you how to make money. More money than you thought was possible. Listen to this episode. You'll hear tested and proven strategies to get rich from Ramit Sethi, the NewYork Time...

For billionaires, every exchange has a winner and a loser. That's what producers David Levien and Brian Koppelman tell me. They've made some of my favorite movies: Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, Solitary Man. Now, they're coming out with 2016's most talked about show: Billions on Showtime. You can learn a lot from them. David and Brian are producers, creators and risk takers. If you want to create, l...

You can't make everyone happy. Really, you can't make anyone happy. The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can let go of control, shame, or whatever your parents did to you, and start having sex. Or happiness. Whatever you're searching for. I'll explain. My guest today, a seven-time New York Times best-selling author, Neil Strauss, has written books on Motley Crue, Marilyn Manson, and pornstar...

You know why I wrote Choose Yourself. But you don't know how you got here. How did you get here, on my email list, my website, Facebook page, Twitter? Do you want to know why you're following me? I'm going to tell you. I'll tell you my secrets to building an email list, a customer base, an audience. I'm going to tell you how I got you here. There are specific tactics I use. And you can use them, t...

I know a miracle worker. He's an entrepreneur, marketing man, and film producer who gets companies like HP to say, "yes" to him. You can learn a lot from him. I did. One thing I learned is there's more to choosing yourself. There's a part two. Part one is when you see things in your life that are absurd, decide you're not going to stand for it anymore and quit. You decide to become physically, emo...

You can have power, but it comes with a lot of bullshit. When Spider-Man's Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility," he was trying to say that power comes with a lot of BS. It's a good warning. We want all of the power and none of the bullshit. And then you hear everyone complaining. It's hard to be a good guy. My guest today, Jane Swift, is the youngest female governor in U.S...

It won't be the idea that causes you to quit... it's fear. It's the big idea that stops us-the idea of being a Google or a Facebook, a New York Times best-selling author, a guru, a YouTube sensation, a Mark Cuban or Kevin O'Leary. Sometimes, it seems easier to forget you even had the idea to begin with. The idea of success. But if you give in, you'll end up quitting before you start. It's a trap....

Everyone I've ever dated (before my second marriage) was just practice. Telling my second grade crush I was in love with her and getting laughed at - practice. Posing as a psychic on Craigslist to meet women - practice. I could have chosen not to do those things. I could have been too embarrassed or said I don't want to be "that guy." But then I would have been holding myself back. Don't waste tim...

If she told me to jump off a bridge, I just might do it. She was the only friend who would tell me anything, and I would do anything for her. I think I love her. Growing up, I wanted to know everything-sex, bullying, whether I was normal or not. I was curious-confused really. Kids were mean and girls were pretty. Judy Blume was the only one who would answer my questions. I was asking, "What is it...

This is for the writers.  Write something that doesn't suck.  It's a simple goal.  With low stakes, Amy Koppelman wrote "I Smile Back," which was rejected at least 80 times. It was rejected because it resembled the truth too much. One publisher said, "This is the reason we got into publishing, but I can't sell this." Now, Sara Silverman is starring in the movie. She's the main character, Laney.  I...

Do you have a favorite book you return to over and over again? James does, and today the author of that book joins him on The James Altucher Show. Many of you know James does a Twitter Q&A every Thursday. But what you probably didn't know is that before he jumps online he rereads one book... He turns to Sugar for inspiration. Sugar is the fictional character in Cheryl Strayed's book, Tiny Beautifu...

Lewis Howes is great. He has achieved Olympic level successful in many areas of his life and today with the launch of his brand new book, The School of Greatness, he adds Bestselling Author to the list. On this episode, I ask Lewis what it takes to be great. Without hesitation, Lewis says that it all starts with a vision. You have to visualize what it is you really want. You have to dream it. Lewi...

If you're running your own business, then you know by now that you have to care about what you're doing if you want to be successful. Making money can be a goal, but it can't be your only goal. You have to work toward something greater than just turning a profit. On today's podcast I talk with Bryan Johnson, someone who knows full well how much you have to care if you want your investments to pay...

Today's guest changed my life. Seeing as he helped to invent Blogger and Twitter, he probably changed your life too! The Internet's last decade and a half of development as a forum for writing has taken place in large part on platforms built in part by Ev Williams. Evan "Ev" Williams is on the show today to talk about his new blogging platform, Medium, and how he worked his way up to the top spot...

Naveen Jain is the founder and CEO of one of the biggest companies from the dot-com boom era, and now he has set his sights on the moon.   His company, Moon Express, plans to send a rocket to the moon as a business venture to collect rare minerals and resources, and then bring them back to Earth. He also plans to make travel to the moon and other planets accessible to all of us at some point in th...

Are you willing to disobey your parents? Cassey Ho came from a typical Asian family. They gave her three choices for her career... doctor, lawyer or engineer. She had to bring honor to her family. But that wasn't Cassey's calling. She had the entrepreneurial spirit, and she just had to follow her dream. Fast-forward to today, and Cassey has almost 2.5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel Blo...

This week I've got something important to say to every message board across the internet: "Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mom with the dishes." Sound familiar? That's PJ O'Rourke, world-renowned talking head and published author, whose political humor and commentary make him the butt of many an insult on message boards everywhere. He's on the show today to talk about po...

This is my first threesome on the show! Tucker Max, Nils Parker, and Dr. Jeff Miller are all here to discuss their new book Mate: Become the Man Women Want. But what does dating have to do with business? Believe it or not, marketing yourself for social relationships is related to marketing your business for success. In fact, from Tucker's point of view, they're almost one in the same. "Dating and...

How do you summarize a highly colorful life of an inventor, billionaire and philanthropist? In this episode of The James Altucher Show, our guest is John McAfee. James and John talk about the high and low points of John's life. Just days after this interview, John announced he is running for President of the United States. Listen to John and see if you can decide if he's going to get your vote. He...

Hank is one half of the popular YouTube duo VlogBrothers. The show is co-hosted with his brother John Green, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Fault in Our Stars. The show boasts a loyal group following, amounting to around 2.6 million viewers. The brothers are also the brains behind a fundraising campaign called "Project For Awesome," through which they're organizing the community...

Penn Jillette is a famous magician - he's one half of the duo Penn and Teller. He has made a career out of sleight of hand and tricks. He credits Teller with getting him into magic. Penn's specialties are juggling, writing, and comedy. He suggests that when you choose a career you go into a field in which you know you can improve. He continued his education at "clown college." He was "forced" into...

This weekend Dr. Wayne Dyer passed away.   James wants to recognize the influence Wayne Dyer has had on his life. We're very sad about his passing. Here is one of the last interviews Wayne Dyer has done and it is with James...  During that interview James asked Dr. Dyer what he saw as the arc of his career. "What has your message been and how have you seen it evolve?" Without hesitating, Dr. Dyer...