Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sebastian Mallaby is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the author of six books, including More Money Than God, The Power Law, The Man Who Knew, and The World's Banker. His latest book is The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence.
This episode is brought to you by:
Eight Sleep Pod Cover 5 sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: EightSleep.com/Tim
AG1 Pro all-in-one nutritional supplement: DrinkAG1.com/Tim
Wealthfront high-yield cash account: Wealthfront.com/Tim
Wealthfront disclaimer: New clients get 3.30% base APY from program banks + additional 0.75% boost for 3 months on your uninvested cash (max $150k balance). Terms and conditions apply. The Cash Account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“WFB”) member FINRA/SIPC, not a bank. The base APY as of 1/30/26 is representative, can change, and requires no minimum. Tim Ferriss, a non-client, receives compensation from WFB for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of WFB, which creates a conflict of interest. Individual experiences and outcomes will differ. Instant withdrawals may be limited by your receiving firm and other factors. Investment advisory services provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Securities investments: not bank deposits, not bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value.
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded one billion downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/
Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/
Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: facebook.com/TimFerriss
Sebastian Mallaby is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the author of six books, including More Money Than God, The Power Law, The Man Who Knew, and The World's Banker. His latest book is The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence.
This episode is brought to you by:
Eight Sleep Pod Cover 5 sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: EightSleep.com/Tim
AG1 Pro all-in-one nutritional supplement: DrinkAG1.com/Tim
Wealthfront high-yield cash account: Wealthfront.com/Tim
Wealthfront disclaimer: New clients get 3.30% base APY from program banks + additional 0.75% boost for 3 months on your uninvested cash (max $150k balance). Terms and conditions apply. The Cash Account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“WFB”) member FINRA/SIPC, not a bank. The base APY as of 1/30/26 is representative, can change, and requires no minimum. Tim Ferriss, a non-client, receives compensation from WFB for advertising and holds a non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of WFB, which creates a conflict of interest. Individual experiences and outcomes will differ. Instant withdrawals may be limited by your receiving firm and other factors. Investment advisory services provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Securities investments: not bank deposits, not bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value.
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded one billion downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
Sign up for "5-Bullet Friday" (Tim's free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/
Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/
Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss
Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss
Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: facebook.com/TimFerriss









![Arthur Brooks — Finding The Meaning of Your Life
Arthur Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. His next book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness, will be released on March 31, 2026.
This episode is brought to you by:
Humann’s SuperBeets Sport for endurance and recovery: https://humann.com/tim
Monarch track, budget, plan, and do more with your money: https://www.monarch.com/tim
AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://drinkag1.com/tim
Coyote the card game, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens: https://coyotegame.com
[00:00] Preview.
[00:34] The vascular Arthur Brooks returns.
[01:45] Brahmamuhurta and why Arthur studies happiness.
[03:53] Arthur’s morning workout protocol.
[08:10] Why Arthur does Zone 2 cardio without headphones.
[08:51] Quantifying progress as the secret to happiness.
[15:04] Post-workout holy half-hour.
[17:47] Creatine, caffeine strategy, and 60-70 grams of protein for breakfast.
[25:26] Four hours of distraction-free deep work and Hemingway’s protocol.
[27:48] Alcohol kills sleep to borrow happiness from tomorrow.
[29:59] My ketosis, intermittent fasting, and morning protocol.
[34:50] Experimentation is king.
[39:07] David Baszucki, metabolic psychiatry, and ketosis: the poet’s protocol.
[40:50] Four affect profiles: mad scientists, cheerleaders, judges, and poets.
[46:36] Why Arthur was moved to write The Meaning of Your Life.
[48:15] Psychogenic epidemic: technology isn’t the problem, it’s what we’re not getting.
[51:55] Macronutrients of meaning: coherence, purpose, significance.
[01:00:01] Search vs. presence and the trap for seekers.
[01:03:53] Marine rule: get to 80 percent and choose.
[01:09:05] Significance at micro, not macro level; cult of activism as substitute religion.
[01:11:15] Transcendence: from me self to I self; Harvard’s Astronomy 101.
[01:13:32] Two dimensions of transcendence: upward (worship) and outward (service).
[01:20:19] Maslow revised: training awareness so the mundane becomes miraculous.
[01:23:38] Flow state as self-forgetting; beauty as transcendence.
[01:26:06] Living in the simulation: complicated vs. complex problems.
[01:29:10] Left hemisphere vs. right hemisphere.
[01:33:28] Your suffering is sacred: pain times resistance.
[01:37:36] Pilgrimage as metaphor.
[01:46:32] AI as left-brain adjunct.
[01:48:22] Arthur’s evening protocol: Psalms and Neruda.
[01:51:05] The oxytocin protocol for marriage, break glass plan.
[01:55:25] Happiness is love and other parting thoughts.
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded one billion downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.
Sign up for 5-Bullet Friday (Tims free weekly email newsletter): https://go.tim.blog/5-bullet-friday-yt/
Follow the Tim Ferriss Podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Visit the Tim Ferriss Blog: https://tim.blog/
Follow Tim Ferriss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss/
Follow Tim Ferriss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timferriss/
Like Tim Ferriss on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimFerriss/ Arthur Brooks — Finding The Meaning of Your Life](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GGKb3lKfP9Y/mqdefault.jpg)
