The Rich Roll Podcast

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans created perhaps the most popular course at Stanford, "Designing Your Life," and co-authored the book "How to Live a Meaningful Life." This conversation explores the intersection of product design and personal development. We discuss the loneliness epidemic, why there is no best self, curiosity as the gateway drug to wonder, the transactional world versus the flow world, and why the wisest people across every tradition all arrive at the same conclusion. This one broke me open in the best way possible. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today's Sponsors: Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever

This is my first solo episode — and honestly, out of my comfort zone. Which is exactly why I needed to do it. The recent Channel 5 interview between Shia LaBeouf and Andrew Callaghan went wildly viral. Most of the discourse has been voyeuristic or vilifying. I wanted to do something different and use it as a lens to examine what addiction actually looks like in real time. As a recovering alcoholic, I know this territory. The grandiosity. The denial. The theater of contrition without any contrary action to back it up. This is a serious conversation about relapse, accountability, and what real change actually requires, including what it looked like in my own life. Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today's Sponsors: Shokz: Visit SHOKZ.com and use code RICHROLL to receive an exclusive offer on your purchase

Ken Rideout is a masters world champion marathon runner, recovering opioid addict, and the author of the new memoir, “Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard.” This conversation explores the childhood trauma Ken spent decades outpacing, the addiction that nearly destroyed him, his wife Shelby's cancer battle, and the paradox that the very things that propelled him to extraordinary heights became Achilles heels. We discuss his relentless mindset, the role of pain and suffering in igniting willingness, and why the real obstacle was never the competition. Along the way, we arrive at a truth familiar to every addict: self-awareness will avail you nothing. It's what you do with it that matters. Ken is a real one. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today's Sponsors: BetterHelp: Get 10% OFF the first month

Tom Sachs is a contemporary artist and cultural provocateur known for turning branded consumer objects into high art. This conversation explores the paradoxes that define Tom's art and his iconoclastic philosophy of living; why creativity is the enemy, the power of sympathetic magic, consumerism as secular religion, the infamous Barney's nativity scene that launched his career, and why persistence — not talent — is omnipotent. And in doing so, Tom dismantles the intransigent myth that artists are a different species and makes a compelling case that we're all creative beings irrespective of what we do for a living. Tom is equal parts Werner Herzog and blue-collar craftsman. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up  Today's Sponsors: Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever

Bone smashing. Steroids. Crystal meth. 13-year-olds letting AI judge their faces. It's called looksmaxxing – and it presents as self-improvement. Underneath, it's a deftly weaponized pipeline to nihilism, misogyny, and self-destruction, consuming millions of young men right now. Adam Skolnick and I sit with all of it this week – what it is, why it's spreading, and what the real antidote looks like. If you have a young man in your life – or you are one – sit with this. Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today's Sponsors: Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever

Michael Easter is a New York Times bestselling author, UNLV professor, and the mind behind “Walk With Weight.” This conversation explores rucking, the evolutionary movement pattern humans are built for that modern fitness has largely overlooked. We discuss why it affects body composition differently, how GPS navigation impacts cognition, and why optimization culture can undermine resilience. Plus, he challenges my assumptions about comfort zones. Michael's insights are practical, contrarian, and rooted in science and experience. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today's Sponsors: Momentous: High-caliber human performance products for sleep, focus, longevity, and more. For listeners of the show, Momentous is offering up to 35% off your first order

Dr. Dawn Mussallem is a Mayo Clinic oncologist who survived stage 4 cancer at 26, heart failure, and a heart transplant—then became the first person to run a marathon within a year of receiving a new heart. This conversation explores the integrative approach to cancer treatment, why exercise might be as powerful as chemotherapy, the self-flagellation patients feel despite doing everything right, and the profound role of mindset in survival. Typically, my guests fall into two buckets—incredible story or incredible expertise. I don't know that I've ever had a guest who inhabits both worlds the way Dawn does. Her story is super inspirational, and the information is equally impactful. Enjoy! ⁠Show notes + MORE⁠ ⁠Watch on YouTube⁠ ⁠Newsletter Sign-Up⁠ Today’s Sponsors: Noble Mobile: The first phone carrier that pays you to use your phone less. Try it for just $10 with code RICHROLL

Roll On is here—and this one has teeth. Adam and I unpack the tale of two Alexes—Honnold and Pretti—and what that juxtaposition reveals about the best and worst of human nature. From there: a 9-month surgery milestone (30 lbs down, joy levels up), the Attia-Epstein fallout and the allure of proximity to power, and ICE's authoritarian overreach. Listener questions round us out: finding hope, perfectionism, escaping burnout, and the sacred practice of showing up for someone else. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever

Alex Honnold, the world's most accomplished free solo climber and subject of Oscar-winning Free Solo, just climbed Taipei 101 live on Netflix. In this special live podcast event—our first with a studio audience—we go behind the spectacle to explore what really happened on that building: the unexpected challenges and the mental shift that transformed pressure into joy. We discuss his training philosophy at 40, his evolving relationship with risk and mortality as a father, and why he challenges our arbitrary definitions of what's "dangerous" vs. "normal." Along the way, he makes us examine our own relationship with fear, discomfort, and living in alignment with our values. Alex unites and inspires us all. This conversation illustrates why. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Seed: Use code RICHROLL20 for 20% OFF your first order

James Nestor is an acclaimed science journalist and author of the international bestseller "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art." This conversation explores why so many of us breathe dysfunctionally—and how it may be connected to chronic ailments. We discuss breathing biomechanics, CO2 tolerance, the link between sleep-disordered breathing and ADHD in children, and practical techniques to optimize how you breathe. James also walks us through his Stanford experiment, where breathing only through his mouth precipitated sleep apnea within ten days, which completely reversed in 48 hours with nasal breathing. This one is packed with actionable tools you can implement immediately. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever

Bruce Wagner is a novelist, former student of Carlos Castaneda, and author of fifteen books, including his latest, "Amputation." This conversation explores his use of Hollywood as a laboratory for human behavior, crafting transgressive fiction that skewers the desperate while searching for transcendence. We discuss his decade with Castaneda, writing "Amputation" after the LA fires, the relationship between suffering and art, Buddhist and Sufi wisdom, and why fiction is our most potent vehicle to truth. He describes inhabiting his most malevolent characters with the same proximity as his saintly ones—because we're all interchangeable, all searching for transcendence. Bruce is infinitely fascinating, one of the most interesting people I've ever met. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Shokz: Use code RICHROLL for $10 off your purchase

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor is a gynecologic oncologist, Chair of Women's Health at Atria Health Institute, and host of the podcast “Decoding Women's Health.” This conversation explores why women's health has been siloed for centuries, modern hormone therapy, the estrogen-brain connection, metabolic shifts, GLP-1s, and what partners need to understand about this transition. Underneath it all: generations of women have known what the medical literature is only now catching up to. Elizabeth is a vital voice. I hope this discussion reaches those who need it. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Go Brewing: Use the code Rich Roll for 15% OFF

Brad Stulberg is a bestselling author, executive coach, and one of my favorite thinkers on sustainable high performance. This conversation explores the dualities in personal development, discipline and self-compassion, striving and surrender, intensity and joy. We discuss the "humble badass" archetype, building resilient identities, why curiosity is the skeleton key, and excellence as an antidote to alienation. Along the way, Brad gets vulnerable about the childhood wounds that still drive his ambition—and I share my own. Amidst the chaos of self-help, Brad remains a principled voice of reason. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Birch: For 20% off ALL mattresses

Dr. Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist, host of the podcast “A Slight Change of Plans,” and author of “The Other Side of Change.” This conversation explores the challenge of navigating involuntary change, whether it's injury, loss, or a future that suddenly collapses. We discuss identity and attachment, the illusion of control, why our brains resist uncertainty, the end of history illusion, rumination, and practical tools to help us see change not as a burden—but as a revelation. Maya also opens up about her own identity crises, a career-ending injury at 15, and later pregnancy losses that forced her to confront who she was beyond her deepest aspirations. Change is coming for all of us, whether we like it or not. Maya's goal is to give you the companion you need along the way. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Go Brewing: Use the code Rich Roll for 15% OFF

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz is a gastroenterologist, one of the world's foremost authorities on the gut microbiome, and author of “Plant Powered Plus.” This conversation explores the gut-immune connection as the root determinant of chronic inflammation—the silent driver behind three out of five deaths. We discuss the four nutritional workhorses, why your microbiome is nocturnal, and what happens when you eat after dark. Dr. B also opens up about a decade-long estrangement from his father—an unexpected reminder that healing isn't always biological. Sometimes it's emotional. This is our third exchange together. Our best yet. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Go Brewing: Use the code Rich Roll for 15% OFF

Mark Manson is the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and host of the Solved podcast. Back for his third appearance (eps. 476, 882), we skip the backstory and pull questions from a fishbowl. We discuss vanity goals versus values-aligned goals, why procrastination is really about emotional avoidance, the trap of people-pleasing, how to distinguish intuition from impulse, and the delusion of passive manifestation. I also share my own shifting perspectives on positive thinking and the dissolution of self. Mark is the anti-guru. And this conversation is your New Year intervention. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: Seed: Use code RICHROLL20 for 20% OFF your first order

Happy holidays from the RRP mothership. Another year in the rearview. Time for what's become one of my favorite traditions, our annual “Best Of.” 12 years running now. This year was packed with an astonishing array of guests—too many to feature here. Part 1 revisits the year's most powerful moments: longevity science, neuroplasticity, happiness research, emotional regulation, consciousness, and what it actually takes to change. I'm filled with gratitude for our guests, my team, and most of all—for you. I don't take your attention and support for granted. Here's to growing together in 2026. Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTubeNewsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: On: High-performance shoes & apparel crafted for comfort and style

Kevin Hall, Ph.D., is a physicist-turned-nutrition scientist whose rigorous research has upended some of our most sacrosanct beliefs about metabolism, dieting, and weight loss. This conversation explores why diets fail, the truth behind the "slow metabolism" myth, how ultra-processed foods hijack our biology, and why the 800-pound gorilla driving the obesity epidemic isn't willpower—it's our toxic food environment. He also opens up about his decision to leave the NIH after 20 years due to political interference with his research. Kevin is an honest actor, always trying to set matters to rights amidst a hurricane of nutritional misinformation. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTubeNewsletter Sign-Up Today’s Sponsors: On: High-performance shoes & apparel crafted for comfort and style

Rutger Bregman is a Dutch historian, bestselling author, and the guy who went viral telling Davos billionaires to pay their taxes. This conversation is a salve for the crisis of meaning percolating through modern life. We explore Rutger's pragmatic antidote—moral ambition—and discuss why a quarter of workers believe their jobs are socially useless, what the abolitionists teach us about coalition-building, and why factory farming may be the ethical abomination future historians judge us for most harshly. Rutger's conviction is rare and infectious. By the end of our conversation, I was so inspired that I committed $25K to his organization’s new US Food System Reform Program, a cause area that is deeply important to me. Final Note: Through December 31st, every dollar to moralambition.org/food is matched.  I hope you’ll consider joining me today in making a donation to this impactful organization. See the links in our newsletter, on our website, and in our Substack. Let’s lean into our own moral ambition and d