Different podcasts have inspired, influenced, and motivated me to start the self-experiment & blogging journey. I feel obligated to list the biggest influencers for me in the health optimization field.
(these are not in a particular order of rank)
1. Huberman Lab (by Dr. Andrew Huberman)
Huberman lab is barely 4 months old, but it’s already making big waves. Dr. Andrew Huberman is well-respected neuroscientist teaching at Standford university school of medicine [1].
Basic Theme
Deep dive into one topic per month: science underlying the topic and tools and ways to optimize it. Current topics have been: Sleep, learning and motivation, stress, and hormones.
There have been no guests in the podcast, but Dr. Andrew Huberman consults different experts before the episode.
Release schedule
Normally 4 podcasts per month.
What I like about Huberman lab
Huberman lab is 70% of explaining the underlying science behind the topic and 30% of how to optimize yourself. Dr. Andrew Huberman states that it’s important to understand the basic concept behind the topic, so you know why you should do x or y. I agree with this, and it also gives more reinforcement and motivation.
I advise having full focus on the podcast; otherwise, you will lose interesting details.
Dr. Andrew is an excellent teacher. He knows how to explain complex topics in a way that is understandable for listeners.
Most memorable insight for me
There are 2 ways you can get benefits from cold expose:
1. If you allow shivering, it will activate brown fat, and that, in turn, activates white fat loss
2. To build resilience, you need to fight back to urge to shiver
This is discussed in episode 3.
How to listen?
Youtube
Spotify
2. The Drive (by M.D. Peter Attia)
Peter Attia is a physician that got popularity from his TEDMED talks.
He started his podcast The Drive-in 2018. To this day, he has published 159 episodes.
Basic Theme
The Drive follows a standard podcast theme. He discusses various health-related topics with different experts. The main focus is health, performance, and longevity. There’s also ask me anything episodes approx once a month.
Release schedule
Normally 4 podcasts a month
What I like about The Drive
Similar to Huberman Lab, The Drive is a hard science. All the guests are Ph.D.’s or M.D.’s. I haven’t listened to all episodes, but I’m very keen on longevity-related episodes. Sometimes The Drive is very technical, almost too technical, but hidden gems are hidden if you keep listening to it.
The Drive also has good show notes on their official page.
Most memorable insight for me
Episode 79 had Ric Elias on. He was a passenger in US Airways flight 1549, a flight that landed on the Hudson River. It’s a beautiful story of how a near-death experiment turns into a new life view. You can listen to it here.
How to listen?
Spotify
Apple podcast
3. Found My Fitness (By Dr.Rhonda Patrick)
Dr.Rhonda Patrick has a Ph.D. in biomedical science. She is the founder of Found my fitness, where Dr. Patrick shares videos, articles, and podcasts about optimal health.
Basic theme
Found my fitness differs from other podcasts, it doesn’t have a regular publishing schedule, and there are no episode numbers. Found my fitness provides health expert interviews and instructional videos created by Dr. Patrick.
Release schedule
Irregular schedule, in some months, there is no new content, and other months she provides a lot of content.
What I like about Found My Fitness
Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s instructional videos are top-notch. The expert interviews are also interesting. She covers all the relevant topics regarding health optimization.
Most memorable insight for me
Dr. Rhonda Patrick was the one who introduced me to the benefits of sauna. It’s mind-blowing that frequent sauna use can decrease overall mortality by 40 %. You can watch the Sauna episode here.
How to listen
Youtube
4. Ben Greenfield
Ben Greenfield differs from previously listed Ph.D.’s and MDs, he’s all over the place regarding biohacking, and that’s why it’s interesting. Ben’s business model involves lots of self-marketing (he has a supplement company), but there’s lots of interesting information in his podcast, if you get by the slick marketing. Ben has done this for a while; his podcast has been running for almost 10 years.
Basic theme
Ben’s podcast centers around interesting guests, although not all are MDs or Ph.D.’s. He also provides a question and asks episodes. Topics are centered around biohacking and longevity.
Release schedule
Ben is the most active content provider, even 3 episodes per a week
What I like about Ben Greenfield Fitness
Ben Greenfield isn’t for everyone; if you want hard concrete science, Huberman Lab is better for you. Ben is open-minded, so he is trying and testing various ways to biohack his performance. Some of the ways are most likely rubbish, and they don’t offer any benefits. However, I believe that there could also be hidden gems that are beneficial but not yet recognize by science, or there are only a few studies out there supporting it. It can take many years, so that’s also discussed in the Huberman Labs podcast example.
So in a sense, Ben is in the frontline testing different gadgets, supplements, methods, and some of those will be approved by the mainstream in future years. It’s the listener’s duty to find the gems.
Most memorable insight for me
I have listened to Ben’s podcast many years, so there’s a lot to choose from. However, I can’t help but highlight the benefits of infrared- and near-infrared red light. I think it’s still pretty unknown, but there are many high-quality meta-studies on the benefits of red light therapy. Ben has discussed red light therapy in his podcast episodes and also wrote articles about it.
How to listen
Bengreenfield.com
5. Joe Rogan Experience
The OG of all podcasts, Joe Rogan Experience (JRE). What is the common nominator between Ben Greenfield, Peter Attia, Rhonda Patrick, and Andrew Huberman? They all have been in JRE.
JRE is the most influential podcast for me. I started to listen to it already in 2010. JRE is a mix of MMA talk, political discussions, comedy, history, and health-related topics. I dig all the topics, but health-related is obviously my passion.
There’s no doubt that JRE has positively impacted my life. I have gathered so much information from there. Currently, JRE is in episode 1642, and I have probably listened to 75% of them. One episode lasts approx 2,5 hours. That’s means over 3000 hours of JRE!
Basic theme
Joe Rogan discusses different topics with various guests. The format is very free; even though guests can be M.D, they can start discussing crocodiles eating dogs in Florida. Podcasts can last from 1 hour to even 3 hours.
Release schedule
Few episodes per week usually
What I like about JRE
Format; it differs from other podcasts. There is science talk but also an easy-going atmosphere with humor.
Most memorable insight for me
It’s hard to pick from 3000 hours, but I really liked James Nestor’s breath episode. I bought James Nestor’s book, participated in Wim Hof advanced course, and I also conducted many different breathing experiments after listening to the episode. Episode is number 1506.
How to listen
Now days only in Spotify, unfortunately (Didn’t like the change)
This Post Has One Comment
JRE with Why we sleep author is basically all the info of the book in easy to digest way.
Gonna check Attia longetivity podcast now for sure, he always was good in JRE as well.