We've been taught that success comes from setting goals, defining purpose, and executing a plan. But what if those very habits—the linear drive for certainty—are what keep us stuck?

Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist, founder of Ness Labs, and world-leading expert on mindful productivity, has an alternative: treat your life like a series of tiny experiments. In her new book Tiny Experiments, she explores how curiosity, liminal spaces, and small-scale testing can transform how we handle uncertainty and growth.

Anne-Laure argues that traditional goal-setting and the "tyranny of purpose" trap us in rigid definitions of success and failure. Instead, she offers a science-backed framework for progress through curiosity-driven experimentation, an approach that replaces pressure with play and perfectionism with learning.

We discuss how to navigate the in-between spaces of life, the thresholds between who we were and who we're becoming, and why those moments of uncertainty hold the most potential for transformation.

Listen as we dive into how to build an experimental mindset that turns confusion into data and uncertainty into discovery.

Highlights

• What if the most uncertain moments are also the most meaningful?
• Invisible "scripts" quietly running your decisions, and how to rewrite them
• Why rushing to "figure it out" might be costing you your next breakthrough
• How to turn fear of the unknown into curiosity about what's possible
• The surprising neuroscience behind why smaller risks create bigger change
• A four-step framework that turns uncertainty into momentum
• Why chasing legacy might be keeping you from real impact right now
• How to slow time without quitting your schedule
• The overlooked social hack that makes personal growth exponential
• What happens when you start studying your own life like a scientist
• If you're in between, unsure, or just restless, this conversation is for you.

Anne-Laure shows that uncertainty isn't a problem to solve; it's the raw material of discovery.

In a world increasingly dominated by AI and computational thinking, we've been taught that logic is the ultimate form of intelligence. But what if an over-reliance on pure reason is making us more fragile and less equipped to navigate uncertainty?

Angus Fletcher is a professor at Ohio State's Project Narrative and the author of the best-selling book, Primal Intelligence. Angus's has had an extraordinary career path to say the least, from building mutant neurons in neuroscience labs to studying Shakespeare at Yale, and being recruited by US Army Special Operations to train their elite operators.

Angus argues that the human brain is less a computational machine, and more a dynamic, narrative-based engine built for action and foresight. This "biological intelligence," often overlooked and untrained, is what allows us to operate with limited information, adapt in volatile environments, and innovate in ways no machine can. For his groundbreaking work on this very topic, Angus was awarded the Commendation Medal by the US Army in 2023.

Listen as we dive into the science of your innate intelligence and how narrative thinking works, and how understanding what feelings are telling you can transform how you deal with uncertainty.

Some highlights from the episode:

• Angus's journey from neuroscience to Shakespeare to Army Special Operations
• Why hard skill, soft skill distinction misses the point entirely
• How biological intelligence differs from computational intelligence
• The Army's discovery about decision-making in volatile environments
• A novel take on the purpose of emotions
• What fear and anger signals (and what to do about it)
• Special operators' techniques for turning anger on and off
• Why gratitude works best when applied to specific negative experiences
• The brain as a Swiss Army knife rather than calculator
• How to use emotions like a dashboard for better decision-making
• How an integrated past and branching future creates anti-fragility

If you're curious about the kinds of intelligence that AI can't replicate, and how to better utilize yours, this conversation provides the science and practical tools to get started.

For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com

In this episode, I'm digging into the messy reality of business turnarounds, the kind where survival isn't guaranteed and leadership is more about doing the hard, boring things than dazzling with big ideas.

My guest is Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium, whose recent post "Fell Into a Hole and Got Out" made the rounds for being one of the most honest and actionable stories about company rescue I've ever read. Tony's background runs deep: founder of Coach.me, architect of the Better Humans publication.

This is what it's really like to take over a company bleeding millions, shrinking fast, and staring down insolvency. But it's also a story about staying steady, balancing the financial reality with the need to restore quality, purpose, and confidence to a battered team. There's no sugar-coating here, just real talk about layoffs, difficult investor negotiations, and why the business model has to come before your "next big thing."

Tony walks us through the psychological and strategic ladder he and his team built, one rung at a time, to claw Medium back from the brink. He shares candid lessons for founders, hard truths about startup mythologies, and the personal practices that kept him sane when the stakes were highest.

Here's what we cover:

• The "hole" no one talks about: what it's really like to inherit a company in crisis
• Brutal financial realities, cutting costs, and restoring a culture's sense of purpose
• Why the business model now comes before the product
• The Goldilocks problem of innovation and finding the "just right" middle ground
• How to negotiate with investors when a prior deal is dead and nobody wants to say it out loud
• Lessons on hiring, layoffs, and having the hard conversations with a team that's seen too many pivots
• The psychological "ladder" out, how to focus everyone on small wins
• The power of slow, steady self-improvement (meditation, journaling, therapy) for surviving big challenges
• Why Tony thinks each of us, just by living our lives, accumulate wisdom that can help others
• This is more than a highlight reel, it's a toolkit for anyone who's had to make the tough calls or wondered if they could.

Enjoy the show.

There's something strangely reassuring about knowing people were wrestling with the similar issues we struggle with over 2,000 years ago — even if they wore togas and wrote with a chisel. Donald Robertson is a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist, acclaimed author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, and one of the world's leading voices on Stoicism. He's also the founder of the Plato's Academy Centre in Athens, and a founding member of the Modern Stoicism nonprofit. On this pod, we talk about the wisdom literature and how it can help with emotional distress; specifically, the idea of Stoics as ancient psychotherapists. Donald explains how Stoicism wasn't just a philosophy of life, but also a clear system of psychotherapy in ancient Greek and Roman thought. Some episode highlights:

• How shifting definitions shape our understanding of mental illness
• On the paradox of growth through adversity
• Struggle and transformation
• Experiential wisdom
• Fortune and the bitch goddess of success
• Stoicism as an ancient psychotherapy
• The philosophical roots of cognitive therapy
• On anger, and the art of self-mastery (Seneca, Galen)
• On Worry and rumination
• Marcus Aurelius
• Stoicism's broader vision
• On the "view from above" and the liberation of perspective
• How time expansion mitigates worry
• The complex relationship of thoughts and emotions
• The core proposition of both Stoicism and CBT
• How complaining signals resistance to reality
• Acceptance and the dichotomy of control
• How to reconnect with what's essential in a noisy world

This isn't motivational fluff; it's a toolkit for anyone who's ever gotten tangled in their own head.

People think happiness comes from getting everything you want. But the science shows, it's the absence, the novelty, and the change that bring joy back - Tali Sharot

Ever wonder why lasting happiness can feel so elusive? This episode delves into the neuroscience of habituation, and why our brains, despite achieving desires, tend to filter out positive experiences. We'll explore this phenomenon and uncover practical strategies to consciously re-engage with what's already good in your life.

My guest is Dr. Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at University College London, where she directs the Affective Brain Lab. Tali's research blends neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics to study how emotion and motivation shape decision-making, memory, and belief. Tali's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The BBC, and her TED Talks have been viewed over 15 million times.

We talk about her research behind why we adapt so quickly to both the good and the bad—and how this helps us survive, but can also rob us of happiness, creativity, and even the desire to change. This is the crux of her book, Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, co-authored with Cass Sunstein.

If you've ever wondered why joy fades faster than it should—or why we stop seeing the beauty around us—this conversation offers a fresh perspective on how to disrupt that pattern.

Some highlights from the pod:

• Tali's research background and the Affective Brain Lab
• Research insights into human–AI bias feedback loops
• Habituation: How our brains are built to ignore what doesn't change
• Why the mechanism that makes us resilient also makes us take good things for granted
• The problem of perfection; and getting everything you want
• Dis-habituation —and how to apply it to relationships and daily life
• Happiness and the evolutionary role of novelty
• How to use imagination and attention to rekindle joy and gratitude
• Why people with depression often struggle to recover—and the role of rumination
• How learning and effort unlock happiness
• Refreshing the familiar: Savoring, small changes, and role-play

This is one of those episodes that can help you feel more alive—not by adding more to your life, but by changing how you see what's already there.

Enjoy!

Does the richness of your world expand or shrink in direct proportion to how much of your life is digitally mediated?

My guest argues that by defaulting to digital mediation—where technology filters and facilitates our interactions—we are trading away the richness of real, embodied experience. And in doing so, we risk losing—without even noticing—the very moments that make us happy and resilient.

Are we shrinking our capacity for a full, messy, exhilarating experience of being human?

Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she explores American history, society, culture, and the impact of technology on human behavior.

She is a columnist for Commentary magazine, a fellow at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and a senior editor at The New Atlantis. Previously a distinguished visiting scholar at the Library of Congress, Christine has authored several books, including The Extinction of Experience, Esquire's Best Book of 2024, which serves as the foundation for our discussion.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and many other major outlets. She holds a PhD in history from Emory University, a third-degree black belt in Aikido, and teaches martial arts where she lives in Washington, D.C.

On the show, we discuss Christine's book The Extinction of Experience and a variety of topics, including:

• Our shared interest in Aikido and martial arts
• The thesis of her book
• How technology mediates experiences
• Impacts on basic social interactions
• The concept of "ambiguous loss"
• Serendipity and chance encounters
• How human virtue is created
• Public spaces and the decline of social awareness
• Digital voyeurism
• The physical resonance of IRL events
• Self-isolation and the "loneliness epidemic"

Enjoy!

For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com

In this episode, we explore the human mood system and the origin of depression.

My guest is Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Better Outcomes Laboratory at Cornell University. His work examines long-term functioning and well-being after depression and related conditions, with a particular focus on explaining why some people achieve good outcomes. He received his BA from Harvard University, an MA in History from Johns Hopkins University, and his PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. Dr. Rottenberg's research has been covered in popular outlets such as the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He has authored two books: The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic (Basic Books) and Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford). His most recent digital outreach project is Ever After, a video series about life after depression.

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

• Jonathan's own experience with depression and how it shaped his research and mission
• The evolutionary origins of the mood
• Mood as a system
• The parallels between human and animal depression
• Depression's survival strategy and modern stressors
• Distinctions between ordinary sadness and depression
• Why depression feels permanent—and why it isn't
• Rumination and how it wires the brain for recurring episodes
• The adaptability and resilience of the mood system
• How mindfulness can disrupt depressive thought loops
• Why some achieve 'better outcomes' after struggling with their mental health than others

I think this episode will help many of you see depression and overall negative moods as part of a broader human experience rather than a personal failing. It's a must-listen for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of human emotion and the complex relationship between body, mood, and environment.

Enjoy!

In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of the brain's hemispheres and their profound impact on how we perceive and engage with reality.

My guest is Dr. Iain McGilchrist.

Iain is a true polymath—a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, philosopher, and literary scholar.

He's been a Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford and an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College. He's also a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and previously served as Clinical Director at the Bethlem Royal & Maudsley Hospital in London. He's been a research fellow in neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins and was a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Stellenbosch. He is also the author of a number of groundbreaking books, but is best-known for The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World and his monumental two-volume work, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World.

Iain contends that the way the two hemispheres of the brain operate is fundamentally distinct. It's not that the hemispheres handle different functions, but that they approach these functions in entirely different ways.

In this episode…

• The Divided Brain
• Attention and Survival
• Hemispheric Differences
• Historical Shifts in Society
• Mental Health and Modern Society
• Black and White Thinking
• Mindfulness and Meditation
• Intuition and Emotion
• The Importance of Open-Mindedness
• Consciousness and the Brain
• The Role of AI and Mechanization
• The Purpose of Life and Evolution

Ian's ability to weave neuroscience, history, philosophy, and even poetry into a compelling thesis is unparalleled.

Enjoy!

For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com

A.J. Jacobs is a renowned writer and participatory journalist, best known for his immersive, experiment-driven projects that push the boundaries of immersive learning. From living according to the Ten Commandments to exploring radical honesty, A.J. dives headfirst into his experiments, bringing humor and insight into everything he does. His latest endeavor? An exploration of the U.S. Constitution, attempting to live by its original meaning.

A.J. is no stranger to this podcast—this is his second appearance, and if you missed our previous conversation, I highly recommend checking out Life As Experiment: A.J. Jacobs – Lessons From Living On The Edge. It's one of my favorites, offering a deeper dive into A.J.'s life and wild approach to self-experimentation.

In his latest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning, A.J. documents his year-long quest to embody the Constitution in its original context. From carrying a musket in New York City to using a quill pen, he immerses himself in the mindset of the Founding Fathers, bringing history to life in ways you'd never expect.

In this episode, A.J. and I talk about his experiences, the surprises he encountered, and why curiosity is more vital than ever. Whether you're fired up about politics or just curious about how the past continues to shape our present, you'll love this conversation.

Our conversation includes:

• The role of curiosity in A.J.'s life and work.
• A.J.'s immersive journalism.
• Past experiments like practicing radical honesty.
• Acting "as if"
• Curiosity as key to personal and professional growth.
• A.J.'s latest book and his experiences living 18th-century standards.
• The balance between rights and responsibilities as understood by the Founding Fathers.
• The original intent of free speech, its historical limits on sedition, and its modern implications in the age of social media.
• How the office of the U.S. president has evolved beyond what the Founding Fathers envisioned.
• Strategies for engaging in productive conversations with opposing views.
• Epistemic humility—recognizing that no one is always right.
• The future of society and existential risks, with insights from A.J.'s participation in the Longview Conference.

I hope this episode inspires you to be more open and curious, and question your assumptions. Life is one big experiment—full of choices, tests, and lessons that help us grow and adapt.

Keep exploring!

Enjoy!

For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com

In this episode, we dig into FOMO and the temptations of quick wins and the importance of psychologically sustainable, long-term work.

My guest is Nat Eliason. Nat is a writer and the author of Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance. Since he started publishing his writing in 2013, his work has been read by millions of people and spun out multiple businesses ranging from a marketing agency to a tea cafe.

It's a wild story. In 2021 Nat set a six-month deadline to make as much money as possible before the birth of his first child, leading him to the world of cryptocurrency. In just a year, he made millions writing code that managed hundreds of millions of other people's money, became an influencer in the space, speaking at de-fi conferences, went through a platform hack, and despite amassing a small fortune, He started to question whether his wealth was truly secure and how long he could keep risking everything on the roller coaster investments his business was actually built on.

• Nat's journey.
• Startup culture and the "white-knuckle" mentality.
• The challenge of productivity optimization.
• Enduring impact of books vs. fleeting content of social media.
• The power law of writing.
• Redefining a relationship with creative work.
• Giving yourself credit for creative output.
• Cryptocurrencies, DeFi, and the real value of blockchain technologies.
• On the money-happiness equation.
• Career shifts, burnout and recovery.

Lots of great life lessons here.

For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com

Christof Koch is a pioneering computational neuroscientist and neurophysiologist best known for his groundbreaking work on the neural basis of consciousness. He collaborated with Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, to establish a neurobiological framework for understanding consciousness. Christof served as the President and Chief Scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and continues his work there as a Meritorious Investigator. He is also the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation in Santa Monica, CA, which funds research aimed at alleviating suffering, anxiety, and other forms of distress in people worldwide.

Christof has authored over five books on consciousness, with his latest being "Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It." This book delves into the subject of consciousness through the lenses of physics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and computer science, as well as Christof's personal experiences exploring his consciousness.

In this episode, Christof dives deep into what might explain the origin of consciousness and existing contradictions. We explore how our minds construct reality, the wonder of experience, and the profound implications of Integrated Information Theory. Christof also reflects on the importance of mindfulness, the power of belief, and the ongoing debate on free will.

Our conversation includes:

• The origin of consciousness and the "Hard Problem
• Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
• How far down the phylogenetic tree consciousness might go
• The mind-body problem: physical structures and subjective experiences
• Panpsychism and how consciousness might be a fundamental aspect of matter.
• Qualities of experience and the perception box
• Mind-melding and the "uber" consciousness
• Why AI or any compute-based system may never be sentient
• The boundaries of consciousness and the dissolution of self
• The notion of "mind at large"
• Christoph's experiences with psychedelics
• Free will

My hope is that this episode gives you a sense of awe about your mind so that you look at life and your experiences with a bit more wonder.

Enjoy!

For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com