The James Altucher Show

Today James welcomes Josh Foer to the podcast. Josh is a U.S. Memory champion, award-winning journalist, and bestselling author of Moonwalking with Einstein, which details his journey to becoming a U.S. memory champion.                                            ============ Special Note: Both Josh and James will be presenting LIVE at next month's Stansberry Conference in Las Vegas. If you're inte...

James Hong is one of the founders of the infamous site Hot or Not. What started out as an innocent experiment turned into a cultural phenomenon and lucrative business. Hot or Not was a website that allowed users to upload their photos to the site so that other users could rate them as "hot" or "not." Soon after, a dating site was added, and a new form of internet speed dating began. Hot or Not was...

What if someone told you that your behavior was controlled by a powerful, invisible force? Nick Morgan, the author of Power Cues, joins James today to tell the fantastic story of how, after a serious concussion that left him in a coma for about 10 days, Nick lost the ability to read other people he knew. He could no longer read their body language. He couldn't read the cues. After a couple of mont...

By its very nature, social media lends itself to users showing the highlights of their lives and sharing their best moments, but only after they've cropped, edited and refined those moments. Casey Neistat, the prolific creator of YouTube videos that have made us look at our world a bit differently, thinks it's time we use social media to share the authentic moments of our lives. His new app Beme a...

Is it possible to transform your life on the eve of your 40th birthday, and experience meaning, vitality, and purpose like you've never before imagined? Rich Roll is a wonderful example of how a person can transform his life. Overweight and burdened by his own demons, on the eve of his 40th birthday, Rich began a transformation that resulted in him becoming an accomplished vegan, ultra-endurance a...

The infamous Miami-based rap group 2 Live Crew caused quite a stir in the early 90s when its provocative lyrics and album covers caught the attention of Tipper Gore and the like. Luther Campbell (once Luke Skywalker) of 2 Live, drove out of his way to talk with me about what it's like to work against the politicians and the money-making machine of the music industry. His new book - The Book of Luk...

Tom Rath knows the secret to happiness. On today's show, I talk with him about his new book, Are You Fully Charged?, and with it, he offers key insights into finding the happiness and passion you need to feel fulfilled in your work and in your daily life. With over 5 million copies of his books sold worldwide, Tom knows what inspires you and what hinders you. He also knows what you can do to overc...

Scott Young spent $2,000 and got a "degree" from MIT... And he never had to leave his house. He calls it the "MIT Challenge." Scott believes you might learn better without having to go to college for four years. He spent four years getting a business degree and he still had a longing to learn computer science. But he didn't want to spend four more years of his life in school and accumulate all tha...

My guest today, author Oliver Burkeman, has a strong opinion on the power of positive thinking: he can't stand it. In his book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking,Oliver writes in a humorous and thoughtful way about how self-help books are ineffective. Oliver believes we should coexist with both our positive and negative thoughts, be attached to neither, and take...

Mac Lethal (born David McCleary Sheldon) is another overnight success, 17 years in the making. In November 2011, he released a video on YouTube of him rapping over the beat to "Look at Me Now" while he prepared pancakes in his kitchen. The video became a viral hit and got millions of views in a matter of days, but he'd been practicing his craft for years and years. As he tells James on the extende...

A lot of people call Jim Kwik a brain expert. On today's show, he gives us a sneak peek into his seminars that teach people how to optimize their brains to be more productive and powerful every day. "With great power comes great responsibility." Jim reverses the iconic saying to put normal people in control of their own accelerated learning: With great responsibility comes great power.  When you t...

Brett McKay is the founder of The Art of Manliness, a website dedicated to delivering inspiring, actionable, and life changing advice to both men and women. A lot of times men just need a little more help being organized and getting their lives together than women do. As James says, "Women just grow up faster." Brett's wife Kate is also his business partner. While there are many advantages to havi...

Surrendering to what the universe has put in front of you, being able to set aside fears, and living in the moment sounds like an awesome way to go through life. Today's guest, Michael Singer, has written two books that say it is entirely possible to do that. His first book, New York Times No. 1 bestseller The Untethered Soul, was released in 2007. In The Untethered Soul, Michael explained ways to...

Hal Elrod was dead for six minutes. The car he was driving crashed head on into a truck. His girlfriend, sitting next to him, was unscratched. The roof of the car sliced open his head, causing brain damage. Bones in his face, his arm, all over his body were broken and he was in a coma for six days (during which time his girlfriend broke up with him). When he woke from his coma the doctors told him...

If you want to see into the future, and live longer, healthier and happier then you must tune into today's podcast. It may scare the hell out of you but there is no holding it back. The future is here and you can't get out of its way. Steven Kotler, the best-selling author, journalist and entrepreneur joins James for today's show. Steven's books include Abundance, The Rise of Superman, Bold, and h...

Today I'm very pleased to welcome David Bach to the show. David is the author of several books on achieving your financial goals, and doing so while reducing stress along the way. With titles including Automatic Millionaire, Smart Women Finish Rich, and Smart Couples Finish Rich, David has become an absolute authority on choosing yourself first. Or as he says, "Pay yourself first." With financial...

If you're into hunting for buried pirate treasure then this is the show for you. Today I'm very happy to welcome bestselling author Robert Kurson to the podcast. Robert has just released Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship. This is the second book featuring John Chatterton and is about his quest with John Mattera to find the ship of the infamous pirate J...

"I'm the kind of person who is embarrassed to lie," says "Freeway" Rick Ross. Not the words you would expect to come from a convicted felon. Rick built an empire, a drug empire that is, the notorious Los Angeles crack-cocaine empire. But the man who built this empire is not an evil man as you might suspect. He is charitable, a teacher, and an ideal leader. "I always knew I was going to jail," he t...

What are you best at? Whatever it is, you should do it more often and get paid for it, too. Do you know the ultimate site to choose yourself (besides jamesaltucher.com)? It's Freelancer.com. It's "a global market for services" and "the eBay for jobs." My guest today, Matt Barrie, is the genius who founded it. This site changed my life. And in today's interview, you'll hear how I used the site to b...

Neil Strauss and James never had met before this interview but you'd think they've been best friends forever. And that's why Neil has been so successful writing about the undercover world of pickup artists. He's a really nice guy. They dive right into some of the techniques that Neil talks about in his best-seller, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, and he asks James to le...

I think I'm in love with Mimi Ikonn. Oh, and also her husband Alex Ikonn. Don't want to confuse anyone! When I was a kid I didn't think I would be happy unless I was a "millionaire". Some kids in my school said they were millionaires and they would make fun of anyone who wasn't. I asked my dad what he was worth. He said $2. Maybe that scarred me so much that I always make sure to have wads of $2 b...

They pick up where they left off... Talking about being obligated to continue doing what brought you success. Success can be a trap, but it's better than the alternative. Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and author of How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, joins The James Altucher Show to talk about his career and how it landed him exactly where he wanted to be. Click h...

Don't give up on your dreams. "Giving up on your dreams doesn't come for free," says Chris Hadfield, astronaut extraordinaire. Chris followed his dreams for 33 years before they became a reality. Children dream. Children explore. Adults talk. And adults do. "We get the ability to explore way before we get common sense or perspective on how anything works," Chris says. If you stopped exploring, sta...

I'm a freak. I'm a freak for a lot of things: comic books, podcasts, my wife. But none of that matters today (sorry Claudia). I had the pleasure, no, the honor, of interviewing my good friend Stephen Dubner today. This is like being the best man at his wedding. It's a big day for Stephen. Today, he's releasing his new book, When to Rob a Bank. What a great title, right? In today's podcast, Stephen...

Tim Ferriss has a life-changing surprise for you. It was expensive. I mean, it was expensive for him. It cost him a couple hundred thousand dollars to get. It also wasn't easy. He fought for a year and a half to get it. This is going to change our lives. Yes, both of us. Let me ask you this: What's the one skill you always wanted and don't have? Is it Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Flirting? Playing poker?...