Two Percent with Michael Easter

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.
Michael sits down with Langer, author of The Mindful Body, to talk about how much of your health is actually under your mind's control. They cover:
- The experiment that turned back old men's bodies
- Maids who lost weight by seeing their work as exercise
- Why the stories we tell ourselves about bad events are “the whole ballgame”
- The truth about mindfulness—what it really is and a meditation-free way to find it
- A scientific case against following the rules
- How putting a label on a disease changes how it impacts us
- How to think if you get a health scare
- A better way to make hard decisions
- And more …
Go deeper: The Brain Glitch That Makes Modern Life Feel Miserable
Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. 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. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
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I share similar insights around health and wellness on Substack.
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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:
- Whether we should panic about the future
- Why initiative now beats intelligence
- The case for free-range kids
- Why antidepressants are overprescribed
- What challenging trips abroad teach us about happiness
- The math of exercise and whether it’s worth the investment
- Whether America has become complacent
- How AI makes people smarter or stupider
- What Tyler will never hand off to AI (and what’s best to give to AI)
- When AI will improve human lifespan
- Whether AI will lead to mass job losses
- And much more …
Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University, the economist behind MarginalRevolution.com, and the author of nearly 20 books, including The Complacent Class. He also hosts Conversations with Tyler.
Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. 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. Our editor is Joey Fischground. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
Visit Two Percent, the #1 health and wellness Substack newsletter: https://www.twopct.com
GET A FREE GUIDE TO EXAMPLES OF MISOGI at twopct.com
I share similar insights around health and wellness on Substack.
Follow Michael: Instagram · X · LinkedIn · Facebook · TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.
Michael sits down with Newport, author of Deep Work and Slow Productivity, about how to do deep, valuable work in a world that rewards fake productivity. They cover:
Why emails and meetings are killing our ability to do work that means something.
The conversation to have with your boss when you have too many meetings and other tasks.
The three core rules of “Slow Productivity:” do fewer things, work at a natural pace, obsess over quality.
Enduring myths of productivity, from Jane Austen to Jack Kerouac.
How to say no without burning a bridge.
How to use AI to enhance your work without hurting your thinking.
How to rebuild your attention span the way you'd train for a mile.
And more …
Go deeper: A Viral NYT Story Says Remote Work Makes Us Depressed. It's Wrong.
Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. 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. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
GET A FREE GUIDE TO EXAMPLES OF MISOGI at twopct.com
I share similar insights around health and wellness on Substack.
Follow Michael: Instagram · X · LinkedIn · Facebook · TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.
Michael sits down with Selby, author of Hotshot: A Life on Fire, about what the job costs and what it teaches. They cover:
Lessons River learned in a burning wilderness.
The physical and psychological qualities that build grit and make someone a good hotshot.
Why proximity to danger brings a proximity to life.
How River proved they belonged on the team as someone who didn’t fit the hotshot mold.
Failures in how the government manages fires, and why it’s led to more extreme fires.
How River’s hard childhood helped her tolerate the hardships of wildfire fighting.
And more …
This episode includes discussion of childhood abuse, addiction, and suicide.
Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. 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. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
GET A FREE GUIDE TO EXAMPLES OF MISOGI at twopct.com
I share similar insights around health and wellness on Substack.
Follow Michael: Instagram · X · LinkedIn · Facebook · TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.
Most organizations like his push people to go vegan—but Dan says that’s a critical error. Meat-eaters might be the most important people in the animal-welfare movement—and should be welcomed.
Michael sits down with Shannon, a vegan of almost 30 years, to unpack why he wants meat eaters in the animal welfare movement and what actually improves animal welfare. They get into how to avoid B.S. labels food producers use to make you think you’re buying ethically, why a phone call to a grocery chain can do more for animals than a perfect diet, the animal welfare law 80 percent of Americans agree on, and how to eat fewer animal products without pretending you'll be perfect. Shannon's message is the one worth keeping: you have more power than you realize.
Go deeper: Protein Myths Part II
Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. 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. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
GET A FREE GUIDE TO EXAMPLES OF MISOGI at twopct.com
I share similar insights around health and wellness on Substack.
Follow Michael: Instagram · X · LinkedIn · Facebook · TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.