The James Altucher Show

Welcome to another thrilling episode of the James Altucher Show. Our special guest for today is none other than Polina Marinova Pompliano, a former Fortune journalist, founder of the celebrated newsletter "The Profile", and now, author of the sensational new book Hidden Genius: The Secret Ways of Thinking That Power the World's Most Successful People.Polina breaks down the principles that power the most successful minds. We delve deep into the profiles of extraordinary personalities like the indomitable David Goggins, the master storyteller Aaron Sorkin, and the astute thinker Charlie Munger. Each figure illustrates an aspect of the 'hidden genius' Polina describes in her book, from Goggins' hardening resilience through adversity, Sorkin's impeccable storytelling acumen, to Munger's insights on building trust.As the conversation evolves, James and Polina offer a behind-the-scenes look into their journeys as interviewers and chroniclers of human experience. They dive into their philosophies behind profiling an

Join James on a fascinating journey of self-discovery and exploration as he rekindles his passion for chess and strives to surpass his former master-level ranking. Today, James invites renowned biohacker and fitness expert Ben Greenfield to delve into physical and cognitive enhancements that can propel James toward his chess mastery goals.In his mid-50s, James is determined to reclaim his former glory as a chess player and exceed the skill level he achieved in his twenties. With Ben Greenfield's vast knowledge and experience in biohacking, the conversation dives into cutting-edge strategies and tools to optimize physical and mental performance.The duo explores a variety of potential approaches, beginning with revolutionary therapies like stem-cell therapy and testosterone replacement therapy. Ben provides expert insights on the potential benefits and associated risks of these treatments and how they could impact James' cognitive abilities and overall performance on the chessboard.Moving beyond traditional met

Does your mind wander while reading a book? Do you have to go back pages and re-read because you have no idea what happened in the plot for a few minutes? Have you given up or lost your joy of reading because the task was too daunting?Today, James gives his tried-and-true method of speed-reading books to maximize the knowledge you retain and reduce the amount of time spent reading to a minimum. He gives practical examples for optimal efficiency based on the time you have available and breaks down why other speed-reading methods are less effective over the long haul.We also learn when NOT to speed-read and what is lost to the reader in those circumstances.After listening today, you'll want to head straight to the bookstore or library and knock out a few of the books from your bucket list that seemed impossible to comprehend beforehand.-----------What to write and publish a book in 30 days? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/writing to join James' writing intensive!What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherS

Climb aboard as we take you on the rollercoaster of the latest crypto headlines and regulatory battles. The SEC is throwing punches, suing heavyweights like Binance and Coinbase. But don't believe the hype and panic-inducing headlines just yet! We have the ultimate insider, Omid Malekan, back on the show.Omid is the go-to guy for global finance, crypto, and Wall Street. He's spilled the beans on jaw-dropping adventures from his hedge fund days in our "Wall Street Insane" series. And guess what? He used to help Citigroup navigate the treacherous waters of crypto. Plus, he's the genius behind "Re-architecting Trust," an eye-opening book that unravels the trillion-dollar crypto industry. Trust us, you'll want to grab a copy.Forget about all the noise happening right now. We've got the juiciest, expert perspective on this week's crypto news. Get ready to have your curiosity ignited as we unravel the mysteries of global banking and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's fight to destroy the crypto industry in the United Stat

In this captivating episode, join James as he delves into the world of prolific writer, Joshua Lisec. With a staggering 78 books under his belt, Joshua's impressive track record has attracted the attention of Twitter trolls who can't resist taking a swipe. But Joshua isn't one to let negativity dampen his spirits. Instead, he channels his expertise into empowering others through his latest book, So Good They Call You a Fake: Command Attention, Monetize Your Talent Stack, and Become the Uncontested Authority in Your Niche.https://lisecghostwriting.com/book/James and Joshua dissect Joshua's systematic approach to effective writing and marketing. They explore the remarkable success stories of once-unknown experts who now reap the abundant rewards of their newfound fame. Joshua aptly dubs his approach "The Definitive Guide to Creating Books, Courses, Coaching, and Services that Get Results So Good People Can't Believe They're Legit."With no steps skipped, Joshua's book unveils a blueprint for leveraging the visib

Have you ever imagined yourself as Scott Bakula's character in Quantum Leap, traveling back in time into a disastrous scenario? For many of us, it would spell doom. Luckily, today's guest Cody Cassidy - author of How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes - is here to keep us alive.Cassidy has written a string of fascinating and entertaining history books, including And Then You're Dead and Who Ate the First Oyster? In today's conversation, he and James run through ways to survive archetypically horrific events in Earth's history. They attempt to survive the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. They try to avoid contracting the bubonic plague. They try to decide whether presenting dental floss to a king would keep them from the gallows!History may be the most dangerous place on earth, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit. And with a copy of How to Survive History, some penicillin, and this episode of t

Join us as we delve into the captivating world of Wall Street's most unexpected profits. In this episode, we interview Scott Patterson, acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the fascinating book, Chaos Kings: How Traders Make Billions in the New Age of Crisis.Drawing upon his extensive research and insider knowledge, Scott reveals the secrets of how traders manage to transform unprecedented events, such as the 'Black Swan' and  'Dragon King' phenomena into extraordinary profit-making opportunities.One faction, led by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of The Black Swan, believes humans can never see the big disaster coming. In their view, while inevitable, extreme events—so-called Black Swans—will always catch us by surprise. In 2007, Taleb’s longtime collaborator, Mark Spitznagel, launched the Universa hedge fund, which would make billions protecting investors against unforeseen chaos in the market.A second faction, which relies on complex formulas, believes looming chaos can be detecte

Today, we have a special guest who needs no introduction if you're a fan of science fiction, the talented writer of Silo – now an Apple+ TV series - Hugh Howey.Hugh Howey has an extraordinary journey that has taken him from working in bookstores to laboring as a roofer and even sailing on private yachts around the world. All the while, he was tirelessly crafting science-fiction novels and delving into various other genres. Just as James experienced with the self-publication of his book Choose Yourself, Hugh discovered the transformative power of self-publishing when he unleashed Wool onto the world. Little did he know that this gripping novel would eventually evolve into a groundbreaking TV series.On today's episode, we dive deep into the realms of writing, self-publishing, and the allure of science fiction. Hugh Howey joins James in a thought-provoking conversation about the fascinating universe of Silo and the intricacies of television production. Together, they explore the themes of optimism versus pessimi

In April 2023, a seismic shift occurred in the world of art and creativity. The prestigious Sony World Photography Awards, renowned for celebrating human talent and vision, awarded a prize to an AI-generated photograph. This groundbreaking moment marked a turning point, showcasing the capabilities of generative AI in producing art that could rival human creations. It left many questioning the boundaries between human and machine creativity.Simultaneously, another event unfolded. A new single, seemingly performed by beloved artists Drake and The Weeknd, took the internet by storm, captivating fans across the globe. However, as the excitement reached its peak, the truth emerged—it was an AI creation, flawlessly imitating the artists' musical styles and voices. This incident exposed the potential for AI to deceive and manipulate, blurring the lines between authenticity and imitation.This era of generative AI has ushered in a new paradigm, where not only are judges and fans being fooled, but malicious actors are

What does it sound like when you change your mind?That’s the name of the book Seth Godin was about to publish when James interviewed him. He only printed 5,500 copies. And he’s not printing anymore.He doesn’t view a book as just pages surrounded by two covers. He makes a 3-dimensional object that’s beautiful to look at and read.“It’s not new,” he said on my podcast. “It’s the best of the last four years of my work. And it’s illustrated with hundreds of photos by Thomas Hawk, who’s the most prolific and talented internet photographer.”The book weighs 18 pounds. And it’s 800 pages long.I asked him about art and marketing… and he told me about life.A) START FROM THE BEGINNING“No business, no project, no novel ever started big,” Seth said.It started with fear, uncertainty, excitement, possibility. Tons of “what if’s” that lead to real action. And real action halts the what if’s. The "what if’s" turn to "what is".Seth said, “Instead of saying, ‘I need to leap to the middle,’ say, ‘I’m going to start with people wh

Exponential Organizations 2.0, by Peter Diamandis & Salim Ismail, is a new book - and a new book format - that offers valuable insights into how companies can achieve exponential growth and impact by leveraging the latest technologies. You can now talk directly with the book that generated $1B for Procter & Gamble using OpenExO's chatbot, AI-X. You can register for free for the Exponential Organizations 2.0 Launch Event on June 8th, 2023 at 8 am PST, which will give you access to this new book as well as the ability to watch a 3-hour webinar discussing specifics of these topics with the book's authors.In today's episode, Peter and Salim discuss the billion-dollar businesses of the next decade, focusing on the 11  attributes of ExOs laid out in the book. Not all ExOs exhibit all 11 attributes, but they all incorporate many of them.The first 10 attributes of an Exponential Organization can be divided into “outward facing” and “internally facing” traits. The first five, encapsulated by the acronym SCALE,

What a treat today's interview is. The legendary actress Sally Struthers and director Allan Piper talk with James about their new horror film eVil Sublet one week after its Best Feature debut win at the Coney Island Film Festival. Our guests discuss the rogue production techniques, filmed on location in Allan & his wife/star Jennifer Leigh Houston's apartment and a storage unit during the height of the pandemic, and the lengths New Yorkers will do to score a deal on an affordable rental. We also hear the backstory of Sally's first decade of television stardom on All in the Family and Gloria & Allan's lengthy background as a director working on presidential campaigns over the last 20 years.This conversation goes all over the place, and you'll love every minute of it.------------What to write and publish a book in 30 days? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/writing to join James' writing intensive!What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help

Why do we use money? How did we get to the point where billions of US dollars can be created by the Federal Reserve with the click of a button for bills that are never printed and have no relation to the finite assets those dollars used to be pegged against? Are cryptocurrencies and the digital blockchain the next evolution of worldwide finance?The answer - according to Omid Malekan - is trust, and on today's episode of Ask Altucher, he and James take this conversation back thousands of years to the beginning of 'commodity money' and walk through its evolution to the present day.Omid has been studying the relationship between trust and money for decades, working as a stockbroker, lead cryptocurrency consultant for Citi Group, professor at Columbia Business School, and author of  several books, including Re-Architecting Trust: the Curse of History and the Crypto Cure for Money, Markets and Platforms as well as The Story of the Blockchain: A Beginner’s Guide to the Technology That Nobody Understands.If you ever

Jon Morrow was facing an existential threat to the future of his livelihood's existence. He needed to figure out whether Chat-GPT was truly capable of authoring content that surpassed his team of copywriters at Smartblogger. After hundreds of hours of testing, Jon found his answer and made his choice: embrace the future.Jon has now published a book written completely by AI based on his exhaustive writing prompt discoveries, selling over 2,000 copies per week and a perfect 5-star average rating on Amazon. As Jon says, "You can only write a great prompt for AI if you truly understand the output you want. Because I’m better at writing headlines than 99.9% of writers, I can create a better prompt."Today's compelling episode follows James and Jon as they break down the structure and rationale behind Jon's discoveries. You'll hear James generate headlines and draft outlines in real-time using the specific prompts and methods outlined in Jon's new book to breathtaking results.Want your own copy of Jon's book for a f

In this engaging episode of Ask Altucher, James welcomes a special guest, the renowned podcast host and relationship/networking expert, Jordan Harbinger. Together, they dive deep into a highly sought-after question from one of our dedicated listeners, Steve Blackburn. Steve's query resonates with many of us, as he asks a fundamental question that has the potential to transform our lives: "Since you always mention you're an average of the five people you spend the most time with, how do I develop relationships with more successful people so I surround myself with a better five people?"With his wealth of knowledge and experience, Jordan Harbinger takes the reins and shares his invaluable insights on this matter. Drawing from his expertise in relationships and networking, Jordan provides practical strategies and actionable steps that can be implemented in various aspects of life, whether it's personal relationships, professional networking, or even the dynamic landscape of the media industry.Through their engagi

Dr. Brian Keating - the Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at the Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences (CASS) in the Department of Physics at the University of California, San Diego - has been working in higher education for 25 years. Still, today he's facing an identity crisis. Brian has become disillusioned with how the university and accreditation system is organized, and he's looking to reinvent how higher education looks, costs, and interacts with students. In recent years, Brian has branched out into the media world, authoring multiple non-academic books and blogs, hosting the Into The Impossible podcast, and cultivating a YouTube following of 115k followers and growing. Today's conversation revolves around Brian and James' ideas for new higher learning frameworks, focused on remote and metaverse learning and the concept of virtual mentors - 3D-rendered avatars of interactive historical figures built using large language models and natural language processing.Enjoy this fascinating

James sits down with renowned author and psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy to discuss Dr. Hardy's highly anticipated book, 10x Is Easier than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less, the third book he's co-authored with the accomplished entrepreneur and coach, Dan Sullivan.The conversation began with Altucher delving into the title of the book, intrigued by the idea that achieving ten times more success might be easier than merely doubling one's productivity. Benjamin emphasizes that their book challenges the widely held belief that more effort and hard work are the only paths to success. Instead, Dr. Hardy and Sullivan propose a unique approach that emphasizes simplification, focus, and leveraging one's unique abilities. By narrowing their focus, world-class entrepreneurs can strategically delegate or eliminate non-essential tasks, thereby creating more time and energy for high-impact endeavors.The conversation delved into specific strategies discussed in the book, such as creating a vivid

Today, James sits down with Michael Hearne, one of the visionaries behind the groundbreaking 9-part docuseries, "6 Figure Side Hustles."As the gig economy continues to gain momentum, more and more individuals are seeking opportunities to generate additional income and gain financial independence. In "6 Figure Side Hustles," Michael and his team of gig-economy experts explore the remarkable stories of everyday people who have transformed their lives by leveraging their skills and passions to create thriving side businesses. You can sign-up now for free to view the series, airing on May 23rd, at Hustles.JamesAltucherShow.com. In the interview, James and Michael dive deep into the fascinating world of the booming side-hustle economy. They discuss the ins and outs of building successful side businesses and the strategies employed by individuals featured in Michael's captivating documentary series.But that's not all—James and Michael also explore the evolving landscape of freelancing and its integration with human

James has a brand new video writing course available that teaches you How to Write AND Publish a Book in 30 Days!Back in 2020, James began a series of 30-day book challenges on his Instagram Q&As and Side Hustle Friday episodes (Here and Here) and wrote a breakdown of the basics in a LinkedIn blog post. The feedback and enthusiasm from aspiring writers was larger than he'd expected and the concept never left his mind.Now, James has launched an inclusive writing seminar video course that goes far beyond the existing content and teaches writers step-by-step how to write and publish a book in 30 days! He's even gone so far as to offer to buy, read, and review any book published using this course for listeners who join after listening to this episode, just send James an email at "altucher@gmail.com".Here are the details of what the course covers:You will learn how to write a book in just 30 days from a best-selling author.You will learn my best techniques for coming up with good book ideas that can be complet

In this insightful podcast episode, James interviews Wired editor Kevin Kelly on his latest book, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I Knew Earlier. The conversation delves into various topics such as parenting by example, the genius of being the "only" rather than the "best", and the art of honing the skill of being a friend.The conversation also explores the concept of working on ideas in 5-year segments - Kelly happens to do so against a 'doomsday clock' predicting how much longer he'll live. Bookending the interview, the two discuss Kevin's daily art project focused on creating new work each day with the assistance of conversational user interface AI and what Kevin learned about the technology's strengths and weaknesses throughout the process.Buy Kevin's new book: Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are yo