2% with michael easter by Michael Easter
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We treat aging, fatigue, and even disease as things that just happen to us. Ellen Langer, the first woman tenured in Harvard's psychology department, has spent five decades showing that our way of thinking has a massive say in all of it.
Tyler Cowen has spent decades studying what makes people, societies, and economies thrive. He thinks we’re living through the fastest technological revolution humans have ever faced—yet most of us are still planning our lives as if nothing is changing. Michael sat down with Tyler to find out how to live better today, tomorrow, and years from now. They cover:
Modern work has a giant problem: It keeps us stressed enough to be miserable, but never stressed enough to quit. Cal Newport, a computer scientist at Georgetown University, says that's not an accident: When work switched from factories and farms to offices, we never figured out how to measure the productivity of knowledge workers. Looking busy became our flawed metric, even though busyness keeps us from producing better work.
Hotshot firefighting is one of the most physically demanding and dangerous jobs in the United States. River Selby spent seven years as a wildland firefighter, four of them on elite hotshot crews, the teams that jump into the worst blazes in the country.
There are billions of animals living inside America's factory farms right now. Most live terrible, painful lives. Dan Shannon runs the Humane League, one of the largest and most effective animal welfare organizations in the world.
Americans spend more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation and have the worst outcomes to show for it. Dr. Lucy McBride, a Harvard-trained physician who has practiced for more than two decades, says the problem is baked into the system.
Everybody wants to live longer, and for two decades the Blue Zones, places with the highest percentage of people 100+ years old, have promised to show us how with nine tidy behaviors we can all copy. According to Saul Newman, a demographer at the University of Oxford, almost none of it holds up.
Art is not a luxury. According to Daisy Fancourt, one of the world's foremost researchers on arts and health, it is a missing pillar of health, right next to sleep, diet, and exercise. People who regularly engage with the arts have about half the risk of developing depression over the next ten years. Music has outperformed anti-anxiety meds before surgery in head to head studies. And new research finds that arts engagement slows biological aging about as much as exercise does.
Most of us assume America's biggest health problem is obesity. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, a physician for 20 years and the founder of Muscle-Centric Medicine, argues we have spent 50 years fighting the wrong problem. We are not over fat, we are under-muscled, and obesity is a symptom of unhealthy skeletal muscle.
Robert Young Pelton spent his early career as an advertising executive with 50 employees, a Rolls Royce, and a half acre on the ocean. At 40, he walked away from it to become a journalist and report from the world's most dangerous places. In the 30 years since, a Liberian rebel has put a bullet two inches from his ear, a Colombian death squads have held him at gunpoint for ten days, and he’s arranged secret dinners between American generals and Taliban leaders. His method has never changed: show up, sit down, ask about their kids, and understand why people do what they do.
Most people will never even think about climbing Mount Everest. Dr. Jon Kedrowski has been on seven Everest expeditions and reached the summit four times. Along the way he survived the 2015 earthquake that killed 20 people in front of him at base camp, a storm that killed seven climbers on the night of his first summit push, and a lightning strike that destroyed his tent on a Colorado peak while he slept on the summit.
Maria Konnikova earned a PhD in psychology at Columbia studying human decision-making. She then took her research into the most unforgiving laboratory there is: the poker table. From playing her first hand of poker in 2017, to training under the legendary Erik Seidel, and becoming a poker champion, Maria sits down with Michael the day before playing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, to share the secrets to making winning decisions.
Summer is peak reading season, so Michael sits down with Alex Wieckowski of Alex & Books, who has read two books a week for the past decade. Together they build a list of some of their favorite books, including one hidden gem from Tolstoy, “A Calendar of Wisdom.” Alex tells the true survival story that made complaining impossible for him. He also reveals the classic novel that scared him into cleaning up his habits.
It turns out that tennis might be one of the best things you can do to protect your brain from dementia as you age. For this episode of Two Percent, Michael Easter sits down with neuroscientist Dr. Tommy Wood, author of The Stimulated Mind, to explain why sports that make you think while you move are amazing for your brain. The list includes tennis, pickleball, martial arts, and even strongman competitions.
Ever feel like you're winning at life on paper, hitting your steps, your salary goals, your sleep score, and somehow still feel worse? This episode explains why.
If you turn on the news right now, you'll be hit with a sea of negativity, and it can convince you the world is falling apart. It isn't. Host Michael Easter sits down with two guests to explain why our minds are literally built to outweigh the bad, and how you can bias yourself back toward the positive.
Cognitive decline as you age is not inevitable — but whether you keep your edge depends almost entirely on what you do right now. Host Michael Easter sits down with Dr. Tommy Wood, a neuroscientist and performance consultant who works with Formula 1 teams. His book, The Stimulated Mind, changed how Michael thinks about staying mentally sharp.
Every four years, Americans suddenly remember soccer exists. The World Cup is here and it may be the single biggest sporting event in human history: 48 teams, 104 games over 39 days, and a final that draws north of a billion viewers.
Why do people lose their minds over seed oils, raw milk, carnivore diets, and long Covid? Alan Levinovitz isn't a doctor or a health journalist — he's a religion scholar. And from that vantage point he noticed something you can't un-see: the way most of us think about health functions exactly like a religion, complete with ideas of purity, contamination, salvation, and tribes that turn on you the moment you question the doctrine.
What if you juiced a roster of athletes to the gills with performance-enhancing drugs and let them compete for a million-dollar prize? That's the Enhanced Games — the billionaire-backed "Steroid Olympics" held in Las Vegas — and the results were not what investors expected.
UFC fighters routinely lose 10 to 20 pounds in the 5 days before a weigh-in — then put it all back on in the 24 hours before stepping into the Octagon. It is one of the most extreme metabolic feats in sports, and almost no one talks about what it actually teaches us about everyday fat loss.
Miesha Tate became UFC women's bantamweight champion by choking out Holly Holm in the fifth round at the MGM Grand. Two weeks after the highest moment of her life, she realized the title hadn't fixed anything. The next loss almost ended her. She packed her dog into a Kia, drove up the coast, and rebuilt herself layer by layer. She came back to fighting on her own terms, synced to her hormonal cycle for the first time in 15 years, and called the comeback the best fight of her life.
When it gets hot, most of us hide indoors with the AC cranked, the workouts moved inside, and the thermostat parked at 72°F all summer long. But humans evolved in the heat, and the new science says we can still use it to get stronger, healthier, and (maybe most surprisingly) happier. In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with two of the best people in the world on the subject of heat.
Dr. Julie Gurner has a two-year waiting list. The Wall Street Journal calls her the real-life Wendy Rhodes (the psychologist from the show Billions). Her clients are CEOs, founders, billionaires, and elite operators. But she started her career inside a supermax prison. In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with Dr. Julie Gurner to unpack what actually separates the top 0.01% from everyone else: audacity, what-if-it-goes-right thinking, and using anger as fuel. She also explains why "be humble" might be the worst career advice you have ever received.
A year ago, Michael Easter walked 850 miles across southern Utah in 45 days — about a marathon every day. Dr. Andy Galpin turned him into a lab rat, studying his body before, during, and after his 45 days in the desert. What he found surprised both of them.
Adventure has been engineered out of modern life, and we're paying for it in ways we don't even realize. In this episode of Two Percent, Michael Easter sits down with two guests who have decentered optimization.
What does it take to get genuinely strong, healthy, and creatively alive in your late 50s — while having one of the most demanding jobs in Hollywood?
What happens when you eat 8 cans of sardines everyday for 30 days? For one doctor, his omega-3 levels hit numbers usually only seen in dolphins, his body fat dropped below 7%, and a smell he couldn't shake put a strain on his relationship.
Sobriety isn't just "not drinking"—it's learning how to live without needing relief on demand. In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with therapist Ryan Soave (18+ years sober) for a sweeping conversation on why addiction often acts like a solution to deeper pain, how fear and shame quietly run the show, and what it takes to break the compulsion loop for good.
Dogs don’t just make us happy—they change how we live. Michael Easter talks with former Navy SEAL and writer Sam Alaimo about why dogs pull us back into the present, create purpose, and help us rebuild after our toughest moments.
What if everything you believe about freedom is wrong?
A 3-year old beat a PhD engineer at an engineering problem while playing legos—and that single moment kicked off a decade of research that exposed one of the strongest, most underrated biases in the human brain: we almost never subtract.
More than 100,000 Americans die of drug overdose every year. The solution—or at least part of it—might be dorky as hell.
Is work supposed to feel this miserable? In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with two people who answer the question from opposite ends of the spectrum: one who found deep fulfillment inside the system, and one who walked away from it entirely.
Everyone has a vice. Drinking, smoking, social media, diet soda. And the modern wellness internet will tell you that if you want to live a long, healthy life, you need to cut every single one of them out. But is that actually true?
Melissa Urban — founder of Whole 30 and author of The Whole30 (updated 2024) and The Book of Boundaries — sits down with Michael Easter for one of the most honest conversations on this feed yet. Two sober people (Michael 10+ years, Melissa 24+ years) unpack the parallels between drug addiction and food behavior, why the first time Melissa went to rehab didn't stick, and the single question that rewired every habit in her life: "What would a healthy person with healthy habits do?"
The 130th Boston Marathon is this Monday. To mark the occasion, Michael sits down with Brady Holmer — a science writer, runner, and 2:24 Boston finisher — to go deep on what the race actually feels like, why super shoes might be saving you 5-8 minutes, how to fuel a marathon without your gut exploding, and whether anyone can qualify for Boston.
In this episode of Two Percent, Michael sits down with backcountry bow hunter and filmmaker Donnie Vincent to unpack what months in remote wilderness teach you about stress, calm, and competence. Donnie was featured heavily in Michael’s bestselling book, The Comfort Crisis, and now he joins Michael for the first time on mic since the book’s release.
Walking shaped humans into who we are—and it’s one of the simplest ways to improve health, mood, and longevity right now. In this episode of Two Percent, Michael sits down with evolutionary geneticist Dr. Melissa Ilardo and writer Foster Kamer to explore what endurance science says about how far humans can actually go, why the brain often quits before the body, and how small daily choices compound into massive long-term outcomes.
From New York Times bestselling author and journalist Michael Easter comes a twice-weekly deep dive into the science of living better by doing things the hard way. Building on the insights of his #1 Substack and acclaimed books, Easter balances rigorous evidence with a healthy dose of skepticism to cut through the noise of the modern wellness industry. Whether he’s interviewing elite explorers and Harvard biologists or deconstructing the truth about longevity and metabolic health, this isn't a show for "biohacking" perfectionists—it’s a grounded, often humorous guide for real people looking to build resilience and agency in an increasingly comfortable world. From ancient wisdom to cutting-edge research, listen to Two Percent to discover why the antidote to modern malaise is often found in the challenges we’ve been taught to avoid.
Michael covers the new science of resilience.
This episode is the deepest dive into how muscle impacts women’s health.
Michael covers the infamous time audit.
For Mother’s Day this Sunday, I’m sharing a story I wrote about my mom.
The world of sleep is tainted with misinformation, and it’s driving up sleep anxiety.
Today, Michael covers belonging and how to find it.
Post Summary
In May of 2016, Melissa Arnot Reid became the first American woman to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.
We live in a world where its easier than ever to get information (think Google and ChatGPT).
We’re speaking with Alex Hutchinson about his new book The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map.
Michael is currently on an 850-ish-mile hike through the desert.
I’ll be in the wilderness on a hike for the next 45-ish days.
The Expedition is a monthly journey into thoughts, opinions, ideas, observations, studies, facts, figures, etc.
Michael is speaking with Brett McKay, founder of the Art of Manliness and Dying Breed.
Today is the second Friday of the month. Which means it’s time for Gear Not Stuff.
Michael explains the optimal body size for different fitness activities.
Michael’s work as a journalist takes him all around the world—from the streets of Baghdad and jungles of Bolivia to mountaintop monasteries in Bhutan and laboratories in Boston.
Did you see Saturday Night Live’s viral CouplaBeers skit? Watch it in the post here.
F3 is an organization of men who gather to exercise together early each morning.
Michael just launched a new live show on Substack live called Explore the Edges. Each episode features a fascinating and inspiring guest who can help us live better.
In today’s episode, Lance Armstrong explains how to stay safe while cycling.
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Michael covers three highly popular motivational phrases that can do more harm than good. The first example: “Nobody cares, work harder.”
Today is the second Friday of the month. Which means it’s time for Gear Not Stuff.
Today’s episode covers the death of movement. We’ll look at human physical activity levels—how they’ve changed and why.
In Protein Myths Part I, published Wednesday, Michael examined at how much protein is enough for goals like general health, fat loss, or building muscle; if protein elevates your metabolism; whether protein is more filling than other foods; and more.
It’s the first Friday of the month. Which means it’s time to Burn the Ships.
Protein is having a moment.
Today on Two Percent, Michael speaks with Sahil Bloom, the author of The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life.
The Two Percent New Year Challenge just wrapped up. Michael explains a few critical lessons from the challenge. He covers:
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We pulled the wise and powerful Dr. Trevor Kashey out of his learning lair to answer your questions.
Michael reveals surprising findings of a new study that looked at how to lose more fat.
After two months of truly terrible sleep, Two Percent writer Emily Pennington went on a scientific journey and spoke to experts to uncover data-proven strategies for better rest.
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New GLP-1 drugs are booming in popularity—12.5 percent of Americans have tried them. The figure is expected to grow by roughly 350 percent by 2035.
Humans have increased the world’s loudness four fold.
It’s the first Friday of the month. Which means it’s time to Burn the Ships.
To send out 2024, Michael is highlighting the 11 bests stories he published on Two Percent (TWOPCT.com).
Want to actually make some big improvements in your health, fitness, nutrition, and mindset this year? Of course you do.
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The Expedition covers the most worthwhile and impactful ideas Michael discovered in the last month.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. Members get full access. To hear more, visit TWOPCT.com.
Today we’re talking about the limits of diet and exercise with Dr. Adam Cifu.
Today’s episode is the second annual Two Percent Gear Not Stuff holiday gift guide.
Childhood obesity has more than doubled since the 1990s and 20 percent of kids are now obese. This is why the new administration wants to overhaul school lunches to make them healthier.
Today Michael is speaking with Tamar Haspel one of his favorite, no-BS thinkers about food, nutrition, and health.
It’s the first Friday of the month. This means it’s time for Burn the Ships, Two Percent’s monthly, highly effective workout.
Michael’s first job was acting as Fitness Editor for Men’s Health magazine.
Friday was the biggest Black Friday of all time, and Americans bought more stuff than ever. We spend $1.2 trillion each year on stuff we don’t need.
The holidays are the make-or-break season for long-term health.
The humble potato is the original superfood.
A Misogi is an epic challenge with a 50/50 shot at failure. We do it each year to explore and expand our edges.
