The James Altucher Show

A Note from James
One of my favorite people in the world is back on the podcast: Jen Shahade. She’s been on the show before. She’s a great chess player, a great poker player, a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, and the author of the new book Thinking Sideways, about how lessons from chess can help with decision-making.
As a chess player myself, I can say these techniques really do work. And she even talks about me in the book, which I appreciated. So: how are you going to think sideways? Listen to this podcast.

Episode Description
James talks with Jen Shahade about what chess and poker can teach us about money, ambition, risk, focus, and decision-making. The conversation starts with income: why salary alone rarely creates real savings, why “big chunks” of money matter more, and why relying on a single job is getting riskier in an AI-shaped economy.
From there, they get into one of the core ideas behind Jen’s book: most people think too narrowly. They frame decisions as yes or no, take it or leave it, this city or that city, this job or no job. Jen argues that stronger decision-makers force themselves to find a third option, and often that third option is the one that changes everything.
They also talk about career reinvention later in life, how AI can help people learn faster, why chess is such a good training ground for focus, and what it means to stay calm when you’ve already made a mistake and the position has gone bad. The deeper point running through the whole episode is that good decisions rarely come from certainty. They come from staying flexible, thinking in chunks, and continuing to move even when the path isn’t obvious yet.

What You’ll Learn
Why unexpected “big chunk” income is often more useful for building wealth than salary increases alone.
How AI can make later-life career changes and self-education more realistic than they used to be.
Why binary decisions are often traps, and how forcing a third option can clarify what you actually want.
Why focus is becoming a rarer and more valuable skill in a world built around distraction.
How strong decision-makers try to disprove their own ideas before committing to them.
Why mistakes, embarrassment, and bad positions are often signs that you are stretching yourself in the right direction.
How ambition can become dangerous when it gets disconnected from process and values.

Timestamped Chapters
[02:00] Big money in surprising chunks
Why salary usually gets spent, and why real savings often come from sudden wins.
[02:16] AI, job security, and choosing yourself
Why relying on a salary feels shakier now, and how AI changes the equation.
[03:10] A Note from James
James introduces Jen and the core idea behind Thinking Sideways.
[03:49] The book, poker, and having at least three things going on
Jen talks about the book launch, poker income, and diversified income streams.
[05:35] Why salary increases don’t create savings
The psychology of earning more, spending more, and feeling punished by success.
[08:15] AI as threat and opportunity
The jobs AI may replace, and the new skills it can help people build.
[09:42] Reinventing yourself later in life
A story about becoming a lawyer at 47, one step at a time.
[12:23] Chess and short-term chunks
Why good decision-making means solving the next problem, not obsessing over the final outcome.
[13:31] AI, age, and chess intuition
How computers changed chess learning, and why experience still matters.
[17:17] Regret, mistakes, and always having another chance
How losing positions still teaches resilience and opportunity.
[20:15] Always have three choices
Why the best decision often appears only after you stop thinking in binaries.
[22:20] Buying a house vs. not buying at all
How being stuck between two options can blind you to the real third option.
[24:31] The Stanford $5 challenge
A creativity experiment about reframing the problem instead of solving the obvious one.
[28:00] Focus as a competitive advantage
Why being fully locked in matters more than just knowing more.
[29:22] Deep work in a distracted world
Why focus is becoming a rare skill and how to protect it.
[33:16] Learning new skills with AI
Coding, language learning, and using AI to create personalized practice.
[35:25] Why AI can feel exhausting
How AI can keep people in a deep-work state longer than they expect.
[36:00] Why large language models are bad at chess
Confabulation, pattern recognition, and what that reveals about AI and learning.
[44:03] Ambition, values, and cheating
Why Jen included cheating in a book about decision-making.
[47:00] Chess cheating, Hans Niemann, and online trust
The difference between online cheating, live cheating, and the damage done to opponents.
[57:00] Falsifying your own ideas
Why stronger players spend more time disproving their moves.
[01:00:00] Balancing doubt with action
How to stress-test an idea without freezing yourself.
[01:02:00] Why ambition matters, even if the first move is crude
Magnus, scholar’s mate, and why it’s okay to start by trying to win.
[01:04:00] Work harder when things are going well
Why success is often the moment to press, not relax.
[01:04:58] Final thoughts on the book
James closes on why Thinking Sideways works and what makes it different.

Additional Resources
Thinking Sideways | Book by Jennifer Shahade
Home - Jennifer Shahade
Games and The Grid | Jennifer Shahade | Substack
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Cal Newport
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A Note from James:
This is why I love doing podcasts—talking to people like Dr. Sheena Howard, author of Why Wakanda Matters. Wakanda is the country where Black Panther is from, and Sheena has written extensively about comics, including work on Black Panther itself.
We talk about comics, race, and storytelling. I asked a question I was almost afraid to ask—whether the Black Panther movie was racist against other Black people—and she gave a surprising answer. We also talk about a time she was abducted in Jamaica, along with a lot of other topics.
I loved this conversation. Please listen.

Episode Description:
James sits down with Dr. Sheena Howard—scholar, comic book writer, and Eisner Award winner—for a conversation that moves between pop culture, publishing, and personal survival.
They use Black Panther as a lens to examine how stories shape identity, how representation evolves, and why cultural narratives are often filtered through systems that weren’t built to support them. Sheena breaks down the tension between nationalism and isolationism in Wakanda, and why audiences interpret the same story in radically different ways.
The conversation also goes deeper—into how gatekeeping works in publishing today, how creators can bypass it, and why building your own audience may be the most reliable path forward.
And then there’s the story she didn’t tell for years: being abducted at 19. What happened, why she stayed silent, and what it reveals about psychology, fear, and resilience.
This episode is about storytelling—but also about control: who has it, who doesn’t, and how to take it back.

What You’ll Learn:
Why “Black superheroes don’t sell” is a myth—and how the industry perpetuates it anyway
The real gatekeeping mechanism in publishing today (and why audience ownership matters more than ever)
How subtle bias shows up now—not in obvious barriers, but in shifting goalposts
What makes a story resonate across audiences (and why Black Panther worked at scale)
The psychology of abusive situations—and how awareness and boundaries are built over time

Timestamped Chapters:
[03:04] A Note from James
[03:53] Favorite Superheroes: From Captain America to Black Panther
[04:27] Why Black Panther Connected Culturally
[04:43] The $1.2B Question: Why So Late for Black Superheroes?
[05:17] Luke Cage, Netflix, and the “Myth” That Black Stories Don’t Sell
[05:39] Tyler Perry and the “Outlier” Problem
[06:23] Pressure on Black-Led Films to Be Perfect
[07:00] What Wakanda Represents (Uncolonized Possibility)
[07:53] Killmonger: Anger, Oppression, and Relatability
[08:23] MLK vs. Malcolm X Parallel in Black Panther
[09:00] Identity Formation: African vs. African American Perspectives
[09:47] Are Black Superheroes Designed to “Feel Safe”?
[10:28] Gentrification, Stereotypes, and Media Influence
[11:50] Media Isn’t “Just Entertainment”
[12:00] Early Representation and Cultural Messaging
[12:28] Who Created Black Panther—and Why That Matters
[13:07] Rewriting History: What Would She Change?
[13:49] Designing a Modern Black Superhero
[14:47] Why a Modern Hero Might Be “Invisible”
[15:44] Publishing Barriers and Gatekeeping Conversations
[16:36] Social Media vs. Traditional Publishing Access
[17:26] Building 163K Followers—and Still Not Enough
[21:47] The Instagram Post: “I Was Abducted at 19”
[22:11] How It Started: Cheap Tour, No Money, Bad Decision
[23:05] The Trap: Locked House and Escalation
[25:00] Refusal and Survival Strategy
[26:02] Car Crash and Escape Attempt
[27:00] Walking Away and Getting Home
[28:30] Why She Stayed Silent for Years
[29:20] Abusive Relationships and Self-Blame
[30:26] Leaving Abuse: The Role of Her Son
[31:06] Love Bombing and Early Warning Signs
[33:02] Recognizing Red Flags in Relationships
[35:45] Teaching Kids Boundaries and Self-Worth
[37:21] “Is Wakanda Racist?”—The Big Question
[38:00] Nationalism vs. Racism Explained
[39:00] Isolationism vs. Imperialism
[41:00] Why Some Black Superheroes Don’t Break Out
[43:00] The Loss (and Survival) of Great Storytelling
[46:14] How She Got Hired by Marvel (Cold Email + PI)
[48:29] Why Pitching Ideas to Marvel Often Fails
[50:00] Cold Outreach: Being Seen Before Heard
[52:00] Do You Need Social Media to Sell Books? (Yes.)
[55:01] Building an Audience vs. Waiting to Be Discovered
[56:00] Email Lists: The Real Asset for Writers
[59:00] Should You Niche Down or Stay Broad?
[01:09:36] Do Podcasts Actually Sell Books?
[01:12:00] Why Publishers Don’t Care About You (At First)
[01:14:18] Choose One: Money, Readers, or Prestige
[01:15:10] Quantity vs. Quality Writing Models
[01:23:56] Success Beyond the New York Times List
[01:24:25] Owning Your IP vs. Writing for Marvel
[01:26:18] “Survive the Gap” Concept and Film Project
[01:27:00] Turning Ideas Into Franchises
[01:28:44] Why Ownership Beats Gatekeeping
[01:30:34] What’s Next: Hip Hop and Comics

Additional Resources
Home | Dr. Sheena C. Howard | Creative Entrepreneur
Why Wakanda Matters by Dr. Sheena Howard
Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation by Dr. Sheena Howard
Nina's Whisper by Dr. Sheena Howard
Marvel’s Black Panther (film)
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Episode Description
This archival conversation with Jim Kwik moves beyond memory tricks and into something more fundamental: how we think, learn, and make decisions.
Jim breaks down why most people forget nearly everything they read, why repeating the same mistakes isn’t always about logic, and how modern life is quietly degrading attention and memory. He explains how the brain filters information, how habits form, and why focus—not intelligence—is often the real differentiator.
James pushes the conversation into practical territory: decision-making, fear, performance, and building a life around what actually matters. Together, they explore frameworks for improving memory, reducing distraction, and making better choices—along with the deeper idea that learning is the core skill behind everything else.
This episode isn’t just about remembering more. It’s about thinking better.

What You’ll Learn
Why most people remember only 1–2% of what they read—and how to improve retention
The difference between reading speed, comprehension, and retention (and why all three matter)
How the brain acts as a filtering and deletion system, not a storage device
A practical framework for decision-making using multiple mental perspectives (Six Thinking Hats)
How digital overload, distraction, and “digital dementia” are weakening focus and memory
Why habits—not knowledge—drive performance, and how to build them using motivation, ability, and triggers
The four traits behind high performance: growth, grit, giving, and gratitude

Timestamped Chapters
[02:00] Introduction to Jim Kwik and memory training
[02:29] Why people forget what they read
[03:09] Reading vs comprehension vs retention
[03:50] The importance of remembering love, life, and lessons
[04:25] Why people repeat the same mistakes
[05:05] Emotional memory vs logical memory
[06:29] Blame vs responsibility in reducing stress
[07:11] The brain as a filtering and deletion device
[08:17] Why we remember only 1–2% of books
[08:24] The Zeigarnik Effect explained
[10:15] Note-taking: handwriting vs typing
[11:17] Learning through rewriting and modeling
[12:18] Decision-making and simplifying life
[13:40] Maker time vs manager time
[17:33] Why you shouldn’t check your phone in the morning
[18:06] Brainwave states: alpha, beta, and focus
[19:00] Jim Kwik’s high-performance clients
[20:25] Childhood brain injury and learning challenges
[21:08] Knowledge as power in the modern economy
[22:09] Decision-making and outside perspectives
[23:22] The Six Thinking Hats framework
[26:46] Decision-making through perspective shifts
[28:40] Facing fear and building confidence
[30:33] Digital overload and information fatigue
[31:17] Social media and comparison psychology
[33:11] Fear, rejection, and self-worth
[34:20] Overcoming learning and public speaking fears
[35:02] “Your mess becomes your message”
[36:24] Jim Kwik’s turning point and learning journey
[38:15] Discovering how to learn
[40:03] Deep immersion vs spaced learning
[41:34] Speed reading breakthrough moment
[42:33] Digital overload, distraction, and dementia
[44:02] Why checking your phone rewires your brain
[45:17] Outsourcing memory vs training your brain
[47:00] Busyness vs productivity
[48:18] Biological decision-making and intuition
[49:03] Sleep deprivation and performance
[52:00] Post-traumatic growth vs stress
[53:00] Learning to say no and focus
[54:27] Essentialism: “Hell yes or hell no”
[55:14] Applying the Six Thinking Hats to real decisions
[58:15] What school fails to teach
[59:09] Building a career from learning challenges
[01:01:00] First teaching experience and entrepreneurship
[01:03:00] Overcoming fear of public speaking
[01:08:39] Turning knowledge into income
[01:10:00] The power of learning as a superpower
[01:11:30] Finding what to learn and why
[01:12:52] Growth mindset and learning from failure
[01:13:34] The four Gs: growth, grit, giving, gratitude
[01:15:12] Building grit through discomfort
[01:17:19] Why fundamentals matter more than new ideas
[01:18:22] Habit formation: motivation, ability, trigger
[01:20:00] Time, priorities, and skill-building
[01:23:40] Focus vs intelligence
[01:24:27] Learning through teaching
[01:25:25] High-performance mindset examples
[01:27:25] Jim Carrey and freeing people from concern
[01:29:58] “I don’t get ready, I stay ready”
[01:32:00] Building daily habits for performance
[01:33:00] Giving mindset and learning faster
[01:34:01] Teaching as a tool for mastery
[01:36:00] Gratitude as a performance tool
[01:38:00] Health, energy, and peak performance
[01:41:00] Bringing it all together: love, life, and lessons

Additional Resources
Jim Kwik — https://www.kwikbrain.com
Kwik Brain Podcast — https://www.kwikbrain.com/pages/podcast
Limitless by Jim Kwik — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401958230podcast
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1577314808
Thinking, Fast and Slow (decision-making reference context) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374533555
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671027034
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585424331
Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399176136
Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316178314

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A Note from James:
I talked to Nelson Dellis, who’s a six-time USA Memory Champion and has broken multiple Guinness World Records. His book, Everyday Genius, makes a pretty bold claim—that with some practice and the right techniques, you can dramatically improve how your brain works.
We didn’t just talk about memory. We got into everything: mental math, focus, cold reading, even some techniques that feel almost like magic. And I’ve done a lot of episodes on memory over the years—but Nelson showed me things I hadn’t seen before.
What stood out to me is this idea that “genius” isn’t some fixed trait. It’s a collection of skills you can build. Some of them are surprisingly simple once you understand how your brain actually works.
I’m definitely going to spend more time practicing some of these techniques. There’s a lot here that’s immediately useful—and a lot that could take years to master.

Episode Description:
James sits down with world memory champion Nelson Dellis to break down what memory really is—and how far it can be pushed.
Nelson explains how his grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s led him into the world of memory training, eventually becoming one of the best in the world. From memorizing thousands of digits to competing in global competitions, he shows that memory is not a fixed trait—it’s a skill.
The conversation goes beyond memory into focus, reading, learning, and even social intelligence. Nelson shares practical techniques for improving recall, reading faster without losing comprehension, and using visualization to retain more information.
They also explore the edge cases—cold reading, intuition, and even experiments with “remote viewing”—where perception and cognition blur into something that feels almost supernatural.
At its core, this episode is about expanding what you believe your brain is capable of.

What You’ll Learn:
Why memory is a trainable skill—not something you’re born with
How visualization and emotional context dramatically improve recall
The difference between “speed reading” and “focus reading”
Simple techniques to retain more from books and conversations
How cold reading works (and why it feels like magic)
Why reviewing information—not cramming—is key to long-term memory
The mental habits that create the appearance of “genius”
How attention and focus are becoming rare—and valuable—skills

Timestamped Chapters:
00:02:00 – Nelson’s origin story: Alzheimer’s and the motivation to master memory
00:02:16 – Why reading is like living thousands of lives
00:03:13 – Introducing Everyday Genius and the promise of trainable intelligence
00:04:33 – Memory palace techniques and applying them to real-world skills
00:05:13 – Can memory training help prevent Alzheimer’s?
00:06:13 – Daily memory training routines and measurable progress
00:08:16 – From beginner to USA Memory Champion
00:10:00 – Memorizing 10,000 digits of pi: how it actually works
00:11:31 – Turning numbers into stories: the core of memory systems
00:14:28 – Why emotion and visualization drive memory
00:16:00 – Memory competition benchmarks and world-class performance
00:18:00 – What “genius” actually means—and how to simulate it
00:20:00 – The four pillars: memory, reading, focus, and learning
00:23:33 – Speed reading vs. focus reading (and why most people get it wrong)
00:25:12 – The finger-tracking technique to instantly read faster
00:27:16 – Why you don’t need to read every word
00:30:17 – Why cramming fails (and how memory actually forms)
00:31:17 – Visualization while reading: turning text into a movie
00:34:00 – Active recall, note-taking, and long-term retention systems
00:37:16 – Cold reading and social intelligence
00:41:00 – Body language cues: attention, interest, and perception
00:43:00 – How mentalists create the illusion of mind reading
00:46:00 – Psychological “forcing” and influencing choices
00:51:00 – Remote viewing experiments and cognitive edge cases

Additional Resources
Everyday Genius: Hacks to Boost Your Memory, Focus, Problem Solving and Much More

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A Note from James:
I’ve been in therapy for more than three decades.
Different therapists. Different kinds of therapy. Different crises.
And one question has always fascinated me: What is the therapist actually thinking while I’m sitting there talking?
Are they bored? Are they judging me? Are they secretly Googling me?
My guest today, Lori Gottlieb, knows the answer—because she’s both sides of the story.
She’s a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, and the writer behind the popular advice column “Ask the Therapist.”
But what makes Lori unique is that she’s willing to pull back the curtain on therapy itself: what therapists think, what patients hide, and why people keep repeating the same patterns in relationships and life.
This episode originally aired several years ago, but the ideas still feel incredibly relevant—especially now, when conversations about mental health are everywhere.
So if you’ve ever wondered what’s really happening on the other side of the therapy couch, this conversation is for you.

Episode Description:
Psychotherapist and bestselling author Lori Gottlieb joins James to discuss what really happens inside therapy—and what both therapists and patients often misunderstand about the process.
Drawing from her book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori explains why therapy isn’t just about venting problems but about understanding the patterns that drive them.
James shares his own experiences as a long-time therapy patient, raising questions many people quietly wonder: Do therapists judge their patients? Do they get bored? Do they Google the people they treat?
Lori answers candidly, discussing the hidden dynamics of therapy, the emotional complexity therapists carry home with them, and why the most important conversations in therapy are often the ones people hesitate to bring up.
The conversation also explores relationships, secrets, childhood experiences, and why many people keep repeating the same life patterns—even when they know better.

What You’ll Learn:
Why therapy isn’t just about discussing problems—it’s about understanding patterns
The difference between content and process in relationships
Why therapists rarely get bored—even when problems seem trivial
The surprising ways therapists think about their patients
Why the hardest topics in therapy often show up at the end of a session

Timestamped Chapters:
[00:02:00] Lori Gottlieb on Therapy as “Editing Your Life Story”
[00:03:00] Introduction to Lori Gottlieb
[00:04:16] Inside the Book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
[00:05:02] Why Therapists Need Therapists
[00:06:17] Are Therapists Bored Listening to Problems?
[00:07:00] Content vs Process: The Real Work of Therapy
[00:09:00] Why Pain Has No Hierarchy
[00:10:23] James’s “Statistician” Theory of Therapy
[00:11:00] Why Every Patient’s Story Is Unique
[00:12:00] Finding Something Likable in Every Patient
[00:12:45] The Hollywood Producer Patient
[00:15:12] The Most “Boring” Therapy Patients
[00:16:03] Labeling What’s Happening in a Conversation
[00:18:00] Building Trust Without Oversharing
[00:20:00] Judgment vs Protectiveness in Therapy
[00:23:04] What Therapists Wish Patients Knew
[00:24:11] Do Therapists Care What Patients Think of Them?
[00:25:00] Different Styles of Therapy
[00:29:00] Advice vs Understanding in Therapy
[00:32:51] Do Therapists Ever Google Their Patients?
[00:36:00] Why Patients Googling Therapists Can Backfire
[00:38:00] The Awkward Beginning of Every Therapy Session
[00:41:00] Working With a Patient Facing Terminal Cancer
[00:44:00] The Emotional Impact of Therapy Work
[00:46:00] Handling Suicidal Patients
[00:47:30] When Therapy Ends
[00:50:00] Why Saying Goodbye Matters in Therapy
[00:53:00] “Doorknob Disclosures” — The Secrets Patients Reveal Last

Links and Resources:
Check out Lori’s website and sign up for her newsletter at Lorigottlieb.com
Ask the Therapist is the column Lori writes for the New York Times. You can submit a question for Lori here
Read Lori’s book, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed.”
Also check out Lori’s book from 2011, “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough” (This book is not about settling! She says “I didn’t win the title battle with the publisher. And I still get letters from people who say the book has helped them.” A lot of it has to do with saving your marriage or setting standards. And she wrote a column about this once, too.)
“Dear Therapist” is the column Lori wrote for six years for “The Atlantic.”
Follow Lori on Twitter and Facebook

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