Michael Schur, Creator of “The Good Place” — How SNL Trains Writers, His TV University at “The Office,” Lessons from Lorne Michaels, Wisdom from David Foster Wallace, and Exploring Moral Philosophy with “How to Be Perfect” (#565)

Illustration via 99designs “The thing that SNL teaches you is to not be precious with your own material.”— Michael Schur Michael Schur (@KenTremendous) created the critically acclaimed NBC comedy The Good Place and co-created Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the Peacock series Rutherford Falls. He is also an executive producer...

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Performance Psychologist Michael Gervais — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss (#556)

“Every day is an opportunity for a living masterpiece.”— Michael Gervais Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life. You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview...

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Sarah Silverman — How to Be Your Own Best Friend, Lessons from Therapy, and Grabbing Joy Where You Can Get It (#563)

Illustration via 99designs “Mom always said ‘Be your own best friend,’ and I really, really mastered that.”— Sarah Silverman Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) is a two-time-Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and producer. She currently hosts The Sarah Silverman Podcast and stars in the HBO Max animated series Santa Inc.,...

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My Favorite and Most Impactful Reads from 2021

This post will share the most impactful articles and books that I’ve read in the last 12 months. If you’d like to learn more about how I read, keep track of things, and review highlights, you might enjoy this YouTube video: The below descriptions originally appeared in my free newsletter, “5-Bullet Friday,” which I send out...

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Dr. Michio Kaku — Exploring Time Travel, the Beauty of Physics, Parallel Universes, the Mind of God, String Theory, Lessons from Einstein, and More (#562)

Illustration via 99designs “If quantum theory says that an electron could be in two places at the same time, then why can’t people also be in two places at the same time? And for that matter, why can’t the universe be in two places at the same time? At this point you may say to yourself, ‘This is weird.’ Well, get used to it. It’s called physics!”— Dr....

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Rich Roll — From Alcoholic to Ultra-Endurance Star, Rebooting Life at 40, the Trap of Lower Companions, and How to Reinvent Yourself in the New Year (#561)

Illustration via 99designs “Who are you becoming?”— Rich Roll At age 40, Rich Roll (@richroll) made the decision to overhaul the sedentary throes of overweight middle age. Walking away from a career in law, he reinvented himself as a globally recognized ultra-distance endurance athlete, bestselling author, and host of the wildly popular...

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Zen Master Henry Shukman — 20 Minutes of Calm, Plus the Strange and Powerful World of Koans (#560)

Illustration via 99designs “Through koans, you can meet in the boundless wonder of this other dimension of our experience.“— Henry Shukman Henry Shukman (@mountaincloudzencenter) teaches mindfulness and awakening practices to a wide range of students from all traditions and walks of life. Henry is an appointed teacher in the Sanbo Zen...

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Q&A with Tim — Tools for Better Sleep, Musings on Parenting, The Different Roles of Fear, The Delight of Deepening Friendships, The Purpose of College, How to Boost Your Mood, HRV Training, and More (#557)

Illustration via 99designs Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types to tease out the habits, routines, favorite books, and so on that you can apply and test in your own life. This time, we have a slightly different format, and I’m the guest. ...

Dec 2021

The Incredible Kyle Maynard — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss (#556)

“I know there are many people who, whether they admit it or not, view disabled people as inferior. We are ‘broken’ in their eyes. We are of no use, no value, and we are just running out the string on life. But I believe that we are all disabled in one way or another, including disabilities of character and personality. My disability just happens to...

Dec 2021

The Liberation of Cosmic Insignificance Therapy

Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash The book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman (@oliverburkeman) was recently recommended to me by Cal Newport, bestselling author of Deep Work. The first few pages hooked me, and I devoured it over several days, capturing hundreds of Kindle highlights in the process. It’s quite...

Dec 2021