EP. 55: AN EXPERIMENTAL LIFE: A.J. JACOBS, LESSONS FROM RADICAL LIFESTYLE CHANGES

Bounce! Conversations with Larry Weeks

My guest is AJ jacobs

A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig. His strategy as a writer is to dive into something he’s curious about and actually live it.

He has written ten books, four of which are New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor, and a dash of self-help. His most recent book is The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life.

AJ is also editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR, and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. He has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Dr. Oz Show, Conan, and The Colbert Report. He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily. The viewership count of the two I saw was over 6M combined.

On the podcast, I probe into his life experiments so we cover…

• How I came across his work in Esquire
• We cover some of his more notable experiments
• What he took away from reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in his quest to learn everything in the world.
• The hilarious problems with being radically honest
• What he learned from living the rules of the old testament for a year - in Manhattan
• He discusses which of his experiments was the most profound and life-changing
• We talk about why being grateful is hard and what he learned about gratitude from thanking over 1,000 people
• How we have the happiness equation backward,
• We talk about his latest book and the benefits of puzzles
• What mazes have to do with psychological flexibility

I always strive for the meaningful on the show, but sometimes that can lean toward a bit of the somber - which is fine - but it is wonderful when you can get a guest like AJ who is breezy, funny, AND profound; hard to pull that off but he does it.

I instantly liked him - I think you will too. Enjoy!