Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Watch my interview with Chatri Sityodtong: youtube.com/watch?v=xrHOlE7fLrM
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 900 million 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
Watch my interview with Chatri Sityodtong: youtube.com/watch?v=xrHOlE7fLrM
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 900 million 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
![Richard H. Thaler — The Winner’s Curse and Going Against the Establishment (with Nick Kokonas)
Richard H. Thaler is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness and the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.
His new book is The Winners Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now.
My co-host for this conversation is Nick Kokonas. Nick is an entrepreneur, investor, and author best known as the co-founder of The Alinea Group (sold in 2024) and the reservation platform Tock, which is now owned by American Express.
This episode is brought to you by:
Seeds DS-01® Daily Synbiotic broad spectrum 24-strain probiotic + prebiotic: https://Seed.com/Tim (Use code 25TIM for 25% off your first months supply)
ExpressVPN high-speed, secure, and anonymous VPN service: https://www.expressvpn.com/tim (get 4 months free on their annual plans)
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[00:00] Preview.
[00:46] First principles: What is economics, really?
[02:33] The “max” assumption and agents as optimizers.
[04:45] Rationality in models: Solving problems like an economist would.
[05:39] “Meh” vs “Max” — shortcuts instead of optimization.
[06:12] Selfishness, fairness, and self-control in economic models.
[08:08] Milton Friedman’s “as if” defense.
[10:38] The cashew nuts story: Origin of behavioral economics.
[12:05] Removing choice and status quo bias.
[13:04] The case for Americans needing forced savings.
[15:04] Academic resistance: Psychologists laughing at economic theory.
[19:56] Loss aversion: Disease cure experiment.
[22:18] Endowment effect: Coffee mug experiment.
[24:05] Restaurant reservations and the power of deposits.
[25:26] Fairness research: Snow shovels and blizzards.
[27:11] Uber surge pricing and the 9/11 thought experiment.
[28:53] Behavioral economics in one sentence.
[29:16] Nudges: 401(k) auto-enrollment case study.
[31:50] The fly in the urinal and nudge durability.
[33:10] Lakeshore Drive lines: Making safety easy.
[35:28] Choice architecture: Good nudges vs. malicious nudges.
[36:37] Online gambling and Robinhood’s gamification.
[38:20] Lessons learned from teaching decision-making for 40 years.
[39:18] Winner’s curse: The jar of coins demonstration.
[41:16] ARCO engineers discover the winner’s curse in oil bidding.
[42:20] Writing papers as competitive strategy.
[44:36] Amos Tversky’s note: People learn through stories.
[45:44] Overconfidence: Amazon River and CFO predictions.
[47:56] NFL draft: 53% success rate (barely better than coin flips).
[49:08] Trading down in the draft as optimal strategy.
[51:07] Applying behavioral insights to daily habits.
[52:36] The law of one price and restaurant deposit resistance.
[55:02] Sports analytics: The three-point shot revolution.
[57:54] Mental accounting: Money in jeans feels like a windfall.
[01:02:38] Sunk cost fallacy: The dessert we don’t need.
[01:05:34] Richard’s daughter and the baseball/concert tickets experiment.
[01:06:55] Temptation bundling: Using cognitive biases for self-improvement.
[01:09:55] Big data and natural experiments in the real world.
[01:10:40] Mental accounting in action: Premium gas during the financial crisis.
[01:14:34] The pragmatic reason Richard invented behavioral economics.
[01:16:30] Strategy: Corrupt the youth, not change old minds.
[01:17:46] The behavioral economics summer camp running since 1994.
[01:18:52] The “Anomalies” column in Journal of Economic Perspectives.
[01:20:36] Citations matter: Writing articles people can understand.
[01:21:09] Availability bias: Homicides vs. suicides.
[01:22:21] Kahneman and Tversky: The reason for everything.
[01:23:41] Systematic bias vs. random errors.
[01:24:38] Amos’ dinner trap: Everyone you know is dumb, except your models.
[01:27:38] Michael Lewis’ The Undoing Project.
[01:28:25] Daniel Kahneman’s assisted suicide decision as peak-end rule applied to life itself.
[01:35:31] What keeps Richard going?
[01:37:00] Why the updated version of The Winner’s Curse should appeal to economists and everyday humans.
[01:40:12] Parting thoughts.
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/ Richard H. Thaler — The Winner’s Curse and Going Against the Establishment (with Nick Kokonas)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pv__bcrstNg/mqdefault.jpg)


![Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance — James Nestor
James Nestor is a science journalist and the author of the international bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, with more than three million copies sold in 44 languages.
This episode is brought to you by:
Helix Sleep premium mattresses: https://HelixSleep.com/Tim (27% off all mattress orders)
Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support: https://livemomentous.com/Tim (Code TIM for up to 35% off.)
AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement: https://DrinkAG1.com/Tim (1-year supply of Vitamin D plus 5 free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase.)
***
Buy Breath: https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/0735213615/?tag=offsitoftimfe-20
Timestamps:
[00:00] Coming up.
[00:51] Why I waited years to interview James about Breath.
[01:46] Maurice Daubard: The mysterious 90-year-old who preceded Wim Hof.
[04:15] Tummo breathing: Ancient Bon Buddhist heat generation.
[07:32] James’ personal breathwork practice and the Wim Hof method (with warnings).
[09:24] How breathwork cured James’ chronic respiratory issues.
[11:08] Sudarshan Kriya: The weekend workshop that changed everything.
[13:47] My nine-minute breath hold experiment (hyperbaric chamber edition).
[15:54] Post-book revelations and angry doctors’ offices.
[17:37] The ADHD-breathing connection: A controversial Venn diagram.
[18:56] DIY breathing assessments for kids.
[22:54] Mouth tape: From hostage situations to sleep optimization.
[25:54] James’ seven-year mouth taping commitment.
[28:14] CO2 levels: Your LEED-certified hotel is suffocating you.
[33:46] Monitoring CO2 with the Aranet4 and building a CO2 database.
[36:44] James’ travel kit: Red lights, granny packs, and a Soviet-era PEMF device.
[47:22] In Weirdville, eyes sing The Body Electric.
[48:22] The supplements included in David’s granny packs.
[49:36] Natto vs. nattokinase.
[51:36] Athletes and breathing: The BOLT score explained.
[58:42] LeBron James’ alternate nostril breathing and diaphragmatic dysfunction.
[01:00:04] Inspiratory muscle training and the back soreness warning.
[01:04:01] The Relaxator: An adult breathing pacifier for focus.
[01:07:58] San Francisco Writers Grotto and the trustafarian invasion.
[01:11:16] Writer’s block: A convenient excuse for hobbyists.
[01:14:09] Cutting the corporate cord: James’ visceral “I quit” moment.
[01:20:36] The freediving story that launched a book deal.
[01:23:03] Deep‘s disappointing launch and publisher betrayal.
[01:26:34] Breath: From 290,000 words to 85,000 in a house in the woods.
[01:28:15] Finding the skeleton: The Stanford experiment as through-line.
[01:30:42] Prayer and coherent breathing: The 5.5-second secret.
[01:33:29] James’ critique of breathwork culture and barriers to entry.
[01:35:55] Sleep optimization: SnoreLab, side sleeping, and incline bed therapy.
[01:39:44] Parting thoughts and where to find James and free breathing protocols.
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 900 million 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/ Breathing Protocols to Reboot Your Health, Fix Your Sleep, and Boost Performance — James Nestor](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R_nwuApcbI4/mqdefault.jpg)



![Tim McGraw — Selling 100M+ Records and 30+ Years of Creative Longevity
Tim McGraw is a Grammy Award-winning entertainer, author, and actor who has sold more than 106 million records worldwide, with 49 number-one singles and 19 number-one albums. He is one of the most-played country artists since his debut in 1992, has four New York Times bestselling books, and has acted for both film and television, including the movies Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side and Paramount Network’s Yellowstone. He recently starred alongside his wife Faith Hill and Sam Elliott in Yellowstone’s prequel—the three-time-Emmy-nominated 1883.
You can find tickets for his upcoming Pawn Shop Guitar Tour at https://TimMcGraw.com.
This episode is brought to you by:
Circle complete community platform for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand: https://Circle.so/Tim
Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business: https://Shopify.com/tim
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[00:00] Preview
[00:36] Two Tims walk into a podcast.
[01:34] “The song always has to win.”
[03:43] Recording “Live Like You Were Dying” at 2 a.m. with Uncle Hank in a puddle in the corner.
[07:59] Sensing when the moment is right.
[09:05] The song Nashville hated that Tim heard his first night off the Greyhound.
[11:54] The one-two punch that saved Tim from novelty-act purgatory.
[13:55] Turning down the CMAs because the song wouldn’t fit the time slot.
[14:57] Why you can’t let the audience steer the ship when testing material live.
[20:36] Coping with the physical toll of performing for three decades.
[28:38] The Four Christmases wake-up call that changed everything.
[32:05] What training smarter looks like for Tim.
[35:42] When Tim found out his dad was a baseball legend whose picture was already on his wall.
[47:32] Important advice for aspiring parents.
[48:16] When Tim pawned his high school ring for a $20 guitar.
[50:56] Learning guitar from CMT videos and fret diagrams.
[52:03] The morning Tim tore up his Marines paperwork and bought a Greyhound ticket to Nashville.
[59:36] Nashville as creative accelerant: Tracy Lawrence, Kenny Chesney, and $50 singing competitions.
[01:04:46] Po’boy Don’s crawfish shack: The demo that launched Tim’s career.
[01:07:38] How Faith Hill saved Tim’s life.
[01:10:23] The 7 a.m. bottle of whiskey cry for help.
[01:12:18] Parenthood as selfishness-removal surgery.
[01:16:21] Tim’s “Glory Days” disaster with Bruce Springsteen.
[01:20:23] When Tim’s first album “went wood” — the failure that taught him everything.
[01:25:20] A rodeo monkey no longer: When Tim kicked his record company to the curb.
[01:29:45] Tim’s most important advice for artists.
[01:35:50] Announcing the summer 2026 Pawn Shop Guitar tour with The Chicks.
[01:38:28] If it’s so grueling, why does Tim still tour?
[01:41:47] Tim’s “Humble and Kind” billboard.
[01:42:47] Parting thoughts and a parting gift: “Different” — the new song only on social media.
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/ Tim McGraw — Selling 100M+ Records and 30+ Years of Creative Longevity](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RhyLiO23bmQ/mqdefault.jpg)


