The Best Podcast

Something I haven't done in a while here is tell a story. I had quite an eventful experience a couple of weeks back that I think is worth sharing here, so I wanted to take some time to talk it through. It's a story I'm sure I'll carry with me for years to come. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast was inspired by a conversation I had with my wife within the last hour. She shared the pressure and agony that she endures in her work, to which I responded with an alternative approach to it all. It applies not just to creative work in my view, but to anything we do in this life. I hope you find some value in it and can play with the idea yourself. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

What are your values? What do you believe and why? What are your principles for living a good life and approaching the various things you do? What is the life you are striving to build? These are some questions that guide high quality reflection that I think all of us should take time to ponder and write down. I share why in this episode, along with how I will be approaching this in 2026. Perhaps you'll join me. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a recording of my latest Substack, which also serves as my most recent social media post. You can find it at mbest.substack.com/p/the-professional-phase . I elaborate on the phase of life in which I currently find myself and what I think it means. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is my longest one in some time. A friend of mine asked me thoughts on the state of the US and the world, which provoked a desire in me to just talk it out. I ramble my way through several topics, covering US economics, politics, history, and foreign policy, what's happening around the world, and a critique of social media and its role in debilitating our thinking. It's a lot to chew on, so I hope this opens your mind to some new ideas and perspectives. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today was my first run in three weeks. In many ways, I paid for it, as it was quite a tough one to get through. Nevertheless, I managed myself and got through it, a little slower than usual, but unscathed. It brought my a few reflections as well, which I wanted to share here and hope bring you value. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a bit of a stream of consciousness exercise, in which I take a moment to reflect on my two weeks in my hometown and my trip back to the city this past weekend. A lot of good came from these two weeks, which excites me for what is to come as we start a new year. As always, thanks for listening. Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a long time in the making. After 948 episodes, I finally have my dad on for a conversation. We talk about his early years, his life story, being a father and what his father was like for him, his experience raising my brother and me, and much more. I hope you enjoy it and find some value in what he shared. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

The solution is so often to simply let time do its work. Our lack of patience tends to bring us further from our desired outcome rather than closer to it. I share my thoughts about this here, which I hope brings you some useful reflection. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Food and drink during the holidays can be a big challenge for us to manage. Trying to stick to a diet and manage our weight isn't easy when so much is on a table before us. In this episode, I offer some thoughts on how I've managed this in the past, how I think about it now, and what I think it means for you. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Oh, how I wish we prioritized our minds and everything that goes into them. What a difference it would make for all of us as individuals, as well as the impact it would have on our societies as a collective. It's a topic I can't seem to shake, so here I am, discussing it yet again, with the hopes that I may turn a head or get someone who hasn't thought deeply about this to start doing so. As always, thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection from a recent conversation with my mother in law, where we talked about her persistent challenges and a possible solution to what she is facing. It's a general practice that I wish all of us could practice in life, as it holds immense power for us to retrain ourselves, moving us away from suffering. I'm sure you'll find something of value here. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

A friend of mine has a way of being that I aspire to and think makes the world a better place. It's an attitude that is refreshing and simple, but not necessarily easy to uphold. I share more about it in this episode, which I hope you chew on and consider integrating into your life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Coming from an admittedly biased person toward words and all things verbal, spending time at an art museum and listening to some classical music over the past few days was an extremely enriching and enjoyable experience. As I grow, I find these two art forms to be more and more engaging and valuable. I share a bit about my experience with them here, which I hope drives a useful reflection for you in return. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

John Mayer was my most listened to artist this year. It wasn't his first time occupying this spot, either. I take some time sharing what his music has meant to me at different points in my life before focusing on some lyrics to one song that is currently working its magic on me. I think you'll find some value in what I share here, and perhaps you'll be interested enough to listen for yourself. Thanks for tuning in. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast stems from some recent personal work I've been doing. Trying to articulate the events of my life from start to present has been cumbersome, but it has taught me a great deal so far, both about the process and about myself. I share some of those insights here, which I hope you find to be valuable. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is for the hard moments. Often when we want to lean away and exclude ourselves, isolating our problems from the world, what we really need is to lean in and share. Our friends and social networks are assets that help us to mend our suffering, making life much more bearable. I hope what I share here is of use to you as it has been to me. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

1800 days of writing and 939 podcasts have taught me so much. One thing in particular is the power of words, and more specifically, being able to use language to express ourselves and make sense of our internal worlds. I share the value of writing and speaking as a practice here, which I hope convinces you to incorporate a similar practice into your own life. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

The latest Epstein file release has been eye-opening to say the least. Extremely successful men with moral bankruptcy, pursuing their vanity through the temptations of a mysterious man. It sparked quite a reflection for me, which I spend time sharing here. I'm sure it will bring a meaningful reflection to you as well. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

A new study just came out that explores the similarity between LLM and human responses across countries, seeking to test whether LLMs are less similar to humans in cultures that are more distant from the United States. The general answer they found was yes, they are less similar. However, as I thought about it, it provoked more questions than answers. I share more here, which I hope sparks some questions for you as well. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast finds me on the other side of a couple flights, moving me from New York to North Carolina on my way to Kentucky, a new state I've never visited before. New York and Kentucky are so different. Cityscapes are traded for long lawns for horse farms. People exist in both of these places, living such different lives. This recognition sparked a reflection for me, which I share here and hope it sparks a reflection of your own. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I had a somewhat tense disagreement during a work meeting today. I continued to feel a knot in my stomach over it afterwards as I went for my run. Although it doesn't feel great in the moment, I had some important realizations about it that I thought would be valuable to share here with you. I hope you find some value in it like I did. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is short and sweet, following the essence of its message. Sometimes life gets too complicated and we ask ourselves too many questions, spiraling out of control. Here, I offer a simple alternative for you to consider. I'm sure it will be useful to chew on. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Thank my wife for this episode! Our monthly check-in inspired some meaningful reflection about how I use this space, what it means to me, and how I can get better at prioritizing it. I share all of that and more here, which I hope you enjoy hearing. Thanks for tuning in. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on a fundamental practice and skill to which I wish more of us were exposed. Meditation makes such a difference in how we experience reality and ourselves, which I take time to describe here through some analogies and observations. I'm sure you'll find something useful here. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post and quarterly review, which you can see here: https://open.substack.com/pub/mbest/p/quarter-three-2025 . I share a set of 40 lessons I learned (and relearned), which I hope at least one will spark your interest and get your really thinking. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I was stuck in the middle seat of coach on an airplane for over 6 hours yesterday. For many, this sounds like a nightmare. It is an experience they desperately seek to avoid. For me, it was quite alright, and in this episode I share why. I hope you find some value in it and consider what I share as something to try for yourself! As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack piece, which you can see at mbest.substack.com/p/28 . It's a reflection on what 28 laps around the sun has brought me, starting with some context for how this journey began, moving to what life was like for me in the early days, and what I have learned as I look back. I hope you enjoy it and find it valuable. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on a note I observed in my latest quarterly review. My sense of humor has evolved and changed over the years, ebbing and flowing in unique ways since my childhood. It has pivoted, shrunk, and now expanded, which I am grateful for. I share how it has evolved and how my time in Brazil expanded it for the better in this episode. I hope you find it interesting to listen to and that it may prompt some reflection of your own. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast expands upon my last episode, but in quite a different direction. I spend some time talking through the value of planting seeds in our subconscious and how we can do that effectively to allow our brains to make progress on problems we're trying to solve in the background. I hope you find it to be a valuable resource! Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is an exploration of a very small but significant situation I found myself in this morning. Simply put, I was offered a price and wanted to negotiate. It's seeming a very basic situation, but it's often in the most basic of situations that there is a lot to reflect on and consider if you look hard enough, so I share some of my reflections here in this episode. Thanks for listening. I hope you find it interesting and useful in some way. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on a recent conversation with colleagues of mine at work. We talked about some new ideas and movements in education, which sparked a dialogue where I noticed some things that I wanted to share here. I hope you find my perspective thoughtful and useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on the bigger picture of physical exercise. I went for a nice 7 mile run today, and it sparked a meaningful discussion later in the day about why I invest so much into my fitness. I hope what I share here may inspire you to do the same. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a short reflection on the last week of my life. It brought quality time with such a dear friend, along with a lot of focus on a key transition I am going through with my wife. Life is moving, but it doesn't have to roll over you! I share a bit about my learnings that connect to that message here, which I hope you enjoy and find valuable. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reading of my latest Substack post, which you can see here: mbest.substack.com/p/quarter-two-review-2025 . It's my 18th quarterly review to date, which is once again filled with useful lessons and points to ponder. I hope you find it valuable and perhaps feel inspired to start engaging in a similar process of reflection yourself. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Despite how hard it is to see with our eyes on a day to day basis, our friendships play an immense role in our health and longevity. We must take care of them with the same, if not greater, intensity as we do our personal health and hygiene. Our social health is fundamental to a great life. I hope that what I share here inspires you to reflect and pay more attention to this. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

How easy it is to overlook all the little decisions we make in a day. Our choices our powerful, and those choices appear to us as tiny forks in the road throughout our days, which end up becoming our lives. I share how my day was today and a number of forks in the road that I face that make a difference, which I hope get you thinking and reflecting on how you manage your forks in the road. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Despite wanting to talk about other things today, my mind didn't allow that to happen. I reflect on that very thing in this episode, talking through how that happens and how consumed by what appears in our consciousness we become, as little of a choice as we may have in what appears there. We are truly so so fascinating. I hope this episode is insightful and valuable to you in some way. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Getting overwhelmed is such a common human experience. We feel the anxiety that overcomes us when the tasks of life add up and begin to shake us. But what do we do? How do we face this situation? I share my answer to these questions here, which I hope you find useful. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a meditation on how I've been over the last week with my family on vacation. It's such a curveball from how life has been over the last few months, which has its upsides and downsides. Importantly, it has given me an opportunity to see myself in a way that I haven't been used to given how relatively new this situation is for me. I share what I've noticed here, which I hope is thought provoking for you. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a deeper reflection on a recent conversation I had with a friend about some challenges she faces in her workplace. The title may seem like such a simple question, but once we really grapple with it, we see how impactful it can be. This drove me to elaborate more on it, sharing the details of what I mean by this question and how it applies in life, which I hope you find interesting and useful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on what goes beyond the words I share here. So much of what I say is about action. Getting the sleep and doing so consistently. Eating well. Hydrating well. Showing up to get the workouts in. Reflecting daily in a journal. Meditating consistently. These are all viral behaviors for me, and they offer a glimpse into the key way of being that comes from what I share, a foundation for living well during good times and bad. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

I've now been back in my hometown for just shy of two weeks. I've enjoyed this period where I've temporarily shifted my priorities, which has taught me a lot about myself. I take some time to talk through that a bit here, sharing my observations of myself over this transition. Thanks so much for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

These past few weeks have called for my attention and presence. Between work travel, preparing to move halfway across the world, making that move, and then spending time with family and friends from my hometown, so much has been happening in a point of meaningful transition. Instead of digging into my phone, I've decided to be in these moments and invest into them without distraction. I share more about this here, which I hope you find to be a valuable message to hear. Thanks for listening! As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is my last one recorded in Brazil for a while. It's a recording of my latest Substack post, which you can find at www.mbest.substack.com/p/growth . I share about the week I just spent in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso working on a project with the state's department of education and the world bank. It was such a cool experience, so I spent some time to reflect on it and share it with you here. I hope you find some value in it! Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reminder of a fundamental human process. We are all heroes in a way, which I hope you come to understand through this episode. I explain the process of the hero's journey and the ways it applies at large and small scales, which I had the pleasure of sharing with some educators this past week. I hope you see the value in what I share here as they did. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is long overdue, but here I am! I'm sharing today a bit of what I've been focused on over the last few weeks. I've found myself in the midst of quite a great professional opportunity that has brought me a lot of satisfaction and positive reflection. I talk more about it in this episode to give some more context, which I hope you enjoy and find interesting. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

Today's podcast is a reflection on last night's goodbye party with some great friends here in Rio. I wanted to take some time to reflect on the great relationships my wife and I have built here and what they mean to us as we take a new step in our adventure together. I hope you enjoy it and find some meaningful insights in what I share. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

It's a busy time in my life. Between work, an upcoming consulting project, and an international move on the near horizon, there are lots of plates to balance. I'm embracing it, striving to elevate my focus and testing my ability to stay centered. I share a bit about that here, which I hope you find valuable. 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 mbest.substack.com/p/how-to-read . I share my views on literacy education and the ways in which it sets us up to not continue learning, right at the point when it's most interesting and useful. I hope you find it an insightful and encouraging piece. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.

In today's podcast, I spend some time exploring my past experiences with religion. It has frequently been a point of frustration and disagreement between me and others, even my family, since I turned away from Catholicism as a teenager. As I've grown, my relationship with and thinking about religion has evolved, leading me to a new understanding, which I share here in this episode. I hope you find it insightful. Thanks for listening. As always, Much Love ❤️ and please take care.