The Best Podcast

Over the last two weekends, I've had some amazing runs here in Rio. The weather has been perfect, which combined perfectly with the immense beauty of this city. I describe what I experienced on these runs in today's episode, along with what it means to me. I hope you enjoy it and can feel some of the positive emotions I share along with me. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see here: https://mbest.substack.com/p/social-roles . I dig into my thoughts on my role in friendships, how that developed over time, and the value it brings to my life. I hope you find it to be a thought provoking and reflective piece. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast digs into a small change I've made in recent months that has had some significant consequences, but not in the most positive way. This change led me to see how the timing of my phone use can make a big difference in how my mind operates throughout the day, which I think you will appreciate hearing. As always, thank you for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on algorithms and their roles in our lives. It's hard to enter any space these days that isn't driven by an algorithm. Social media is the space where algorithms are taken to the max, totally usurping our agency with the force of catering to your unique desires and tastes. I argue here that we must be very thoughtful about the role algorithms play in our lives and offer some possible paths to manage them. I hope you enjoy it and find it insightful. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

What we consume consciously drives what our minds chew on in our subconscious. The “A-ha!” moment is not random. It is informed by what enters out minds, which we dictate through our choices of what to consume and how. I break this down further in this episode, which I hope you enjoy and learn from. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is another reflection on my recent dive into my autobiographical notes. I identify a few more meaningful takeaways I have gotten out of this experience and share them with you. Perhaps you can relate in some way, and if you cannot, then I still think there will be something useful to consider here. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, titled “The False Pendulum” (https://mbest.substack.com/p/the-false-pendulum). I discuss my experiences maneuvering between confidence and humility and the important realization about that maneuvering that I came to over time. I hope you find value in this lesson of life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Over the last few weeks, I've been working on a new personal project. I've reflected on my experiences in an effort to document my life to date. I've written down what I remember from my birth up through high school so far, and that process has left me with some meaningful lessons. I share some early takeaways with you here, in the hopes that you find them useful and insightful. As always, thanks for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on adulthood. As I've grown and interacted more with adults who are older than me, I've seen just how much age is not a proxy for maturity and rising up the self-actualization ladder. Of course, I hold quite high standards, and perhaps those standards are “unrealistic” to most, and yet that fact doesn't relieve this inner conflict. Perhaps you will resonate with what I'm feeling. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Over the weekend, I got to spend some quality time checking in on a lot of friends I haven't been in touch with in a while. In doing so, a lot came to mind, both through the exercise itself and in the responses I received from my friends. There was a lot to make sense of, so I'm sharing what I learned with you here, as I think it may serve you well. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, titled Competence, which you can see here: https://mbest.substack.com/p/competence . I dig into what it means to be competent and how it is a fantastic antidote to worry and the psychological effects of uncertainty. I hope you find value in what I share here. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast digs into a concept I've taken from a new book I'm reading called The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. I've found her ideas to be really refreshing, as they resonate with a lot of my instincts and principles about how we should come together as people. Her ideas connect to an experience I've had here in Brazil since moving here, which I take some time to share with you here. I am sure you will find some value in my reflection. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a little more niche than usual, which oddly ends up being a message that I think all of us would benefit from hearing in one way or another. AI use is becoming more and more common in our lives, and it affects our brains in was that we need to be thoughtful about. I describe that process here and send a message to younger people about the implications our use of AI has in our lives and personal development. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my Quarter One review, which I also wrote up and published on Substack. You can read it here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/quarter-one-2025-review?r=2c9gzu&utm_medium=ios . I dig into a lot of learnings, from personal experiences in my relationships to politics to the deepest parts of our existence, which I hope you find useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is about a part of me that others might consider to be insufferable. I can't seem to watch a Netflix show or a movie without perceiving a high opportunity cost. I always find myself thinking about how else I could be spending my time, and then when I look back afterwards, I notice how far behind spending my time that way brought me. It's far from what most people are used to, which makes me feel for others who have to deal with this part of me. I talk through it a bit here, which I hope you find interesting. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of both my latest Substack post (https://mbest.substack.com/p/day-1564) and my latest journal entry. I'm now running on 1564 days in a row of daily writing, so this episode will give you a good look at what this looks like for me now and how I'm thinking about it. This is a meaningful inflection point for me, so I hope you find some value in my thoughts. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Last time, I spent some time sharing my discontent with where the world is and where it's going. While I still uphold what I said, I think it's only one piece of the puzzle. Today, I share another piece, which I think should carry much more weight in where we place our attention, particularly when times are tough. I hope you enjoy it and find it to be a useful reset. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today, I wanted to take some time to document my thoughts on the current moment. With the new tariffs released, there are big implications for what this means for the world, the US, and for what the US represents. I share my perspective on it from where I sit and what I think lies ahead for us, as unfortunate as that projection may be. Anyways, I hope you find some value in hearing my reflections. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Every once in a while, the dots connect in a beautiful and coherent manner when I stand in front of the microphone to record another episode of this podcast. If I were a betting man, I would wager that this episode will be one of the times when that was the case looking back. Hopefully you'll feel mutually after listening. Thanks for your time. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see at https://mbest.substack.com/p/conflict . I start by digging into the history of conflict, both for humans and the animals before us in our evolutionary tree, which then leads me to a discussion of conflict in modern times. I end with what I think the implications are for us and how we should manage conflict in our lives. I hope it makes you think and is useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast comes on the other side of some intense and very present days in my life. Attending an all-day workshop two days in a row with dinners immediately after meant long days, but they also meant the opportunity to build meaningful relationships and do meaningful work. I reflect on these two aspects of life in particular, and why it's so important to invest into them. I hope it proves an insightful listen for you. Thanks for your time. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast reviews a topic of conversation that came up last night with some colleagues in the behavioral science field. The question of how to get people on board to apply newer ideas like ours can be challenging, so I shared what I've learned as a useful frame for doing so. Curiously enough, the approach I share is quite generalizable across a number of situations, so I take some time to articulate it here. I hope you find it insightful! As always, thanks for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

So much is going on right now. US Politics is rocking the country and the world around it. Major economic changes are reaching a cusp. AI continues to evolve and progress. And then all of us continue to try to work and live day to day as it unfolds. It's a complicated time with a lot of processing we would benefit from doing, but without the time to do it, it would appear. I share my thoughts on where we are, including my concerns about those observations. I hope you find some value in what I share and that it makes you think. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can find at https://mbest.substack.com/the-substance . I review the movie The Substance and share my five main takeaways. It was a very thought provoking experience, so I wanted to invest some time into reflecting on what I think it means for us. I hope you find it insightful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a follow-up to my most recent episode. The first week of March was an eventful one, both for me and Rio de Janeiro. Carnaval brings a special air to the city, along with over a million extra tourists from around the world who drink in the experience. I share what that experience was like for me this year and my observations, which I hope you enjoy listening to here. Thanks for your time. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

After spending an amazing week with close friends from the US here in Rio, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on that time with them and what it meant to me. Friendship is such a special thing, and I value it so highly in my life. This time with them rejuvenated me and left me with feelings of deep gratitude and joy. I share a bit about why in today's episode, which I hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest article on Substack, titled “The Shadow”, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/the-shadow . I dive into the concept of the shadow and how engaging with it can help us better understand who we are and become more integrated versions of ourselves. I hope you find it to be an insightful piece. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast reflects on what I used to be super fired up about, lost a bit along the way, and am now finding again as I start the year, but this time with more depth and nuance. These cycles in life are quite beautiful, in my view, which I hope you can perceive in this episode. Life truly offers so much to us. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, Run, which you can see here: mbest.substack.com/p/run. I'm the article, I talk through my journey to running and what the keys for me were to become a runner. In my post-read reflection, I share some of my thoughts on the way meditation has combined with running for me and the beauty of observing the mind with the body in motion. I hope you find some insights that you can apply in your own life in this episode. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection from Gabi and me on our wedding as we officially pass the two-year mark. We talk about what we remember from the day after our wedding, the wedding itself, and how we have changed since then. The conversation then turns to our views on personality growth and how malleable we are, meditation and its power, and Gabi's “nervous legs” which turned out to be new for me. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find some value in it. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a 2-part episode. I start with a little review of the weekend and the good stuff I got out of it, which then peels into a little monologue about the games we play socially and our lack of intimacy. We often perceive significant costs to being intimate with others, which I challenge here, given there are many unseen costs to avoiding intimacy. I hope you find some value in the message. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see at https://www.mbest.substack.com/quarter-four-2024 . There were 51 points that I pulled out of my review, which I hope you find to be useful and illuminating. Thanks for reading and listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a wandering stream of consciousness in which I reflect on my very busy past week. I've had a lot on my plate, which I share a bit about and how I've balanced it, bringing me to some points about focus, gratitude, and the bigger picture of purpose at play for me. I hope you find it insightful and useful! Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast starts with a reading of my latest Substack piece, which you can find here: https://mbest.substack.com/p/the-river-of-life . It's more artistic and poetic than I'm used to writing on this blog, but I felt compelled to write in this way this week, so here I am! After the reading, I share some of my thoughts that go against what I share in the piece, or at least provide more context around it. I hope you find it insightful and applicable. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today marks my 1,500th consecutive day of writing in my journal. When you add it up, I've spent the equivalent of over 20 entire days just writing during that period. In this episode, I reflect on what this process has meant to me and what I've learned along the way. It has truly become a part of me, which I'm sure you'll be able to hear in my voice. I hope this leaves you feeling inspired to reflect on your own life in some way, even if it's not as extensive as writing every day for the rest of eternity. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/values?r=2c9gzu&utm_medium=ios . I discuss values from four different angles, which stem from my reflections and use of them over the years. I hope you find these ideas to be applicable and useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I recently shaved my face and just left a mustache. I haven't seen my chin in nearly eight years, so it was good to know it's still there when I got rid of the beard that covered it for so long. In this episode, I reflect on this experience of significantly changing my external appearance, which then pulls me into some reflections on my identity, emotions, and thoughts. I think this is one of my best episodes in a while, and I hope you do, too. As always, thanks for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast revisits a topic I discussed very early on in the history of The Best Podcast, in Episode 148 to be exact. In that episode, I espoused a view about epigenetics that was fairly naive and uninformed from what I would have aspired to then and aspire to even more now. I did some more reading about the topic to go more in depth on it, only to discover that this view was quite unfounded. I share what I learned here and reflect a bit on this changing of opinion. I hope you find it to be useful to you in some way. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast digs into an observation of us and of myself. It's so easy to consume content, especially when it's infinitely available. However, we need processing time to make sense of everything that we consume, which is much harder for us to make time for because of our current information environment. I share more about this here, which I hope you find useful and interesting. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest piece on Substack, which you can find at www.mbest.substack.com/p/evolving-happiness . I approach the topic of happiness through the lens of humanity's evolutionary history and identify some suggestions for how to manage modernity in a way that integrates our past. I hope you find some value in this piece that you can apply to your life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast starts with a quick tip about how I've started reading more this year. Despite the title, I use this small change as a segue into what I've noticed has been the value of reading more for me as a person, both for myself and in my relationships. I hope you find some value in this idea. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of my latest Substack post, which you can find at www.mbest.substack.com/p/start-right . I dig into an approach to the new year that diverges from what we normally hear out in the world, but is nevertheless one I believe in because of the power it holds if we truly engage with it. I hope you think so too after listening and/or reading! Thanks for tuning in. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I just had the immense pleasure of sharing my home and my city with Jordan, one of my dearest friends, over the last couple of weeks. To round out his trip, we sat and talked about his experience here, his reactions to Rio, his takeaways from the trip, our friendship, and more. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find some insights of your own in it. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a personal reflection on what I've learned about balancing the deeper and lighter parts of relationships. I used to be someone who highly and intensely prioritized the profound, but I've grown to see value in the lighter, less serious parts of relationships. I share how I've evolved and see this now in this episode, which I hope you find to be valuable. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a summary of my last few days. They've been full of new, fresh experiences that got me thinking and feeling a great deal. Hikes through favelas, iconic fireworks, and quality time with friends has made for an intriguing phase. I hope you like and resonate with what I'm learning. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest post on Substack, which you can see at www.mbest.substack.com. I reflect on how others experience me, and how that often leads them to not see all of me as I would wish. I hope you find value in it and that it may lead you to rethink some of your own relationships. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support

Today's podcast digs into a recent bout of beating myself up over life taking me down a road that I feel I could have prevented if I truly thought before going down it. This is seemingly a universal experience, but how to manage them is something many of us seem to struggle with despite the experience's universality. I have some ideas for how to manage these struggles, which I share today and hope you find useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support

This year has been full of high highs and low lows for me in terms of my fitness. I went from being in the best shape of my life to an appendectomy with complications that sidelined me from exercise for months. At the end of the year now, I've gotten back to where I was, and perhaps even beyond my previous best. I'm so grateful for what taking care of myself physically has done for me, although my reasons for doing so differ a bit from what we commonly hear. I share a bit about that in today's episode, which I hope you find to be insightful and useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support

Today's podcast explores some recent feelings of nerves and anxiety. I introspect a bit about why I'm feeling this, what the meaning of it is, and how I am trying to use it as a positive force. The persistent nature of uncertainty in our lives is quite interesting to me, as it truly is ever-present. We are the only antidote to this uncertainty and what it causes inside of us. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support

In today's podcast I look back on the last five years or so of living my life off of social media. It has afforded me so many benefits, and yet there are still some “what if” questions I ask myself about missed opportunities from that decision. It's a lot to think about, which is why I wanted to talk through it out loud here. I'm sure you've been in a situation or had thoughts about something in a similar manner before, so I hope you find it a valuable episode. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support

Today's podcast details a recent learning I was able to encapsulate into an idea that I think is easy to understand. Interacting and communicating in a responsive versus dismissive manner can make a big difference, so I share what I mean by each term here, along with what it sounds like to be responsive versus dismissive. I hope you find this to be as valuable as it was for me. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-best/support