Podcast: Find Joy in Any Job
Lessons on working better from a top doctor and a vagabond + our first podcast AMA
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Today’s episode is about work—and how to find joy in any job.
After all, the average person spends 2,184 hours working each year. This episode will help you make them better.
I spoke with a top doctor who found deep fulfillment inside the system, and a guy who walked away from it entirely.
First, Dr. Mim Ari—an internist and associate professor at the University of Chicago—talks about being a “deeply fulfilled workist.” She breaks down why we anchor on the negatives, the 10:1 positive ratio that can reframe our workday, how AI is quietly changing the job of doctors, and how to motivate yourself and find joy at work.
Note: Dr. Ari recorded from the hospital, so please excuse any audio oddities. We try to speak with people who work in the trenches doing real things.
Then, Robin Greenfield, who once wanted to be a millionaire—then took the opposite approach, living with almost no possessions. He’s an extreme case, but there’s a lot to learn from him about how owning less can make you freer and less bound to work. Robin explains his 100-change checklist for breaking free of consumerism, and what he learned giving away all his possessions, foraging for food, and riding his bike around the US.
We close with an AMA. I’ll explain a phone hack that improved my work-life balance, the truth about exercise recovery, something I’d change in The Comfort Crisis, and the inaugural “Department of Dipshit Questions.” (P.S. Comment below and see if you can beat my answer to our Dipshit Question—or submit your own Dipshit Question for a future episode).
Video version
Audio version
This link opens the episode in your podcast player of choice.
Show notes
Dr. Ari’s piece on Sensible Medicine: Notes on being a deeply fulfilled workist.
Robin’s 100 changes to live happy, healthy, and sustainably. (Note: I definitely don’t endorse all of these, but they’re worth reading).
The case for diet soda: It gets a bad rap, but the research tells a different story.
Have fun, don’t die, thanks for listening.
-Michael
P.S. Shoutout to the Two Percent team
Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. The episode was edited by Will Mayo, and our theme music is from Heater Manager.