December 1, 2023 • 12 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: behavior coach, writer, and host of "The One You Feed," Eric Zimmer.
Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses.
Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.
Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.
The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.
Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello Puzzlers. Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, the Apple Cake
and Your Puzzling Swanson's TV Dinner. I'm your host, AJ Jacobs,
and I'm here with our guests, the awesome Eric Zimmer,
(00:24):
host of the wonderful podcast right here on. iHeart the
one you feed, which I have been lucky enough to
be a guest on.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome Eric, Hi, Aj, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are delighted. I love your show, and I also
love the way you start your show. You always start
your podcast with the same parable, So would you mind
telling it to us?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Sure, it's an old parable. We don't really know where
it comes from. Some people think it's a Native American parable.
Other people insist that's not true. I've been able to
find no definitive scholarship, so we don't know where it
comes from. But it goes like this. There's a grandparent
who's talking with their grandchild and they say, in life,
there are two wolves inside of us that are always
at battle. One is a good wolf, which represents things
(01:13):
like kindness and bravery and love, and the other is
a bad wolf, which represents things like greed and hatred
and fear. And the grandchild stops think about it for
a second. They look up at their grandparent and they say, well,
which one wins, and the grandparent says, the one you feed.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I love that. I love that for many reasons. First
of all, I love it because the first time I
heard it was from my son's Rabbi when he was
preparing for his aparmits. Well, but I also love it
because it's such a good message and weirdly, and I
don't think this is a stretch. I think that it's
very relevant to puzzles.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, well, you and I talked about that on our
most recent conversation on my show. I think you've been
on a couple times at this point, and we were
able to talk about the way that parable relates to
puzzles last time.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah right, And for those you should go listen to that.
But in my book on Puzzles, I talk about the
puzzler mindset, which is all about seeing the world as
a series of puzzles instead of a series of problems.
And I actually Quincy Jones, the great musician, he said
his life philosophy is I don't have problems, I have puzzles.
(02:27):
So reframing your problems as puzzles because problems are like
the bad wolf to me. They're negative, they're they're intimidating,
and puzzles are like the good wolf. They're sort of
playful and experimental. So if you feed the good wolf
of puzzles in your life, then you will have more
(02:51):
curiosity and positivity than negativity and fear. So that's my
pitch for why puzzles are not just fun but good
for your psyche.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I couldn't agree more. I think you just you saying
that just made me think of a situation in my
own life that I should try and or I don't
don't know. If I say should I could try and
reframe as a puzzle versus just a problem.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, I'll tell you I use it. I've been using
it recently with people when I talk politics, because you know,
my gut instinct is to try to argue with them
and like bash them over the head with my correctness.
But that's not going to work. That never works, So
instead turn it into a puzzle. What do we really
(03:37):
disagree about? Why do we disagree? What evidence is there
that could convince me or her of a different way
to look at it?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah? And what did what do they? You know? What
are the series of experiences in their life that have
caused them to come to that conclusion. Right. You know
that's another aspect of the puzzle, like why are they
why do they see the world this way? Because that
ato unlocks a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Right. Okay, I love talking psychology, but we've got an
agenda here. We are a puzzle show, so we're gonna
move into the puzzle portion. Are you ready to play
a quick puzzle?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I am, I'm I'm not a great puzzle solver, so
you know, I hope I do okay here, but yes,
I am certainly ready.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
No, we like that first of all, everyone. We believe
everyone is a good puzzle solver. It's just you have
to let it out. It's feeding that wolf, right, the
puzzle wolf. Well, this puzzle we came up with is
actually related to your wonderful show, which is about psychology
and self improvement. So the idea for this puzzle is
(04:43):
that your show is so good it needs some spinoffs.
So we've come up with a bunch of ideas for
spinoffs that happened to rhyme with your show, the one
you feed. So you're gonna have to guess what is
the spinoff, and I'm going to tell you a parable
that's at the start of every show, and based on
the parable, you are going to have to figure it out. So,
(05:05):
for instance, if the parable is about two gardens, not wolves,
but two gardens, and one of them has a nice,
clean flower bed with no invasive plants, the title of
that show might be the one you we'd weed exactly. Okay,
you got it? So are you ready?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I am ready, by the way, you got that very quickly.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
So I want to say you're underestimating yourself. Uh, this
show starts with a parable about two books, and one
of those books has better spelling and fewer typos, and
that show is the one you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, if it's a better book, it's an AJ Jacobs book, right,
we know that, we know that, so but I'm pretty
sure what you're aiming at there is the one you read, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Or even more the one you if you're looking for typos,
the one you one you preroo freed.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Oh, you've got multiple syllables in there. That's is that legal?
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, we set the rules. I will say. First of all,
you cannot do better than your first answer about my books,
so you get not only a correct you get like
two points.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:20):
How about if this show starts with a parable about
two loads of bread, one is softer? The title of
that show might be the one you need k exactly
ad exactly. It's a little tricky with the K. How
abing a show what starts with a parable about two
(06:41):
football teams and which one wins? You need someone to
help you win on the sidelines. The one you.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
All hang on, I don't need another hint, The one
you cheer lead excellent.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
See now you're in the double syllables. You're fine with it.
All right. Here's the one maybe a little trickier. This
parable is about a colonial doctor. I'm doing a book
about the early America, so it's on my mind a
colonial doctor and two of his patients. The one who
was cured is the one who.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You well, I'm I'm thinking we're talking about medicine back
in the days before we really knew what the heck
we were doing, and I think a common cure at
that time was one variation of it was leeches. So
I'm going to say the one you bleed.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You got it, the one you belied, And by the way,
for my book, I researched. You can still buy medicinal leeches,
which claim is sort of like the alternative medicine like
Goop type that you actually these will I don't clean
your chakras and make you healthy.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, you know that's really interesting. When you say Goop,
do you mean the magazine that it was founded by.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, the Gwyneth Paul Show, sort of lifestyle alternative medicals.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I don't think that. I don't think that group of
buying leeches a j. I just don't think that's I
think you're I think it's it's alternative medicine, but I
think it's a different crowd.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
All right, Well, have you heard some of the things
they do, I mean family podcast. I don't know if
I want to get into details.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Okay, all right, you're right. I just well, we'll see.
Maybe we could maybe we could ask them.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think it's worth asking. All right, what about one
last one? What about this is a show about two startups? Uh,
and you're an angel investor, and the one that succeeds
is the one that you the one that goes to
an I p O is the one you.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Oh goodness, all right, let me think.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
A little tricky. So if you're an angel investor, and there's.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
The one, the one you have the most greed.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Oh, I give you full credit. That was now what
I was going.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Now, okay, give me another hit.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Well do you know there's like different rounds. There's the
round as.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Oh, yes, yes, yes, I've got it all right, the
one you seed.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Exactly you did it say? I knew you were a
good puzzler. Thank you so much, Eric.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That was fun.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I'm so glad. I'm glad that I was able to
have you on my show, in addition to being on
your wonderful show. Speaking of which, where can listeners find
your show?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
You can search for the one you feed in any
podcast app you use, or if you want to know
more about it, you can go to one you feed
dot net. That's O N E y O U F
e E d dot net.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Love it. And before we wrap up, as always were
all you puzzlers at home, an extra credit puzzle. What
if there's a show about two? It starts with a
parable of two sheep in an animal husbandry program. The
one who has more offspring is the one you blank?
(10:00):
I see, Eric, I.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Think am I supposed to answer or not?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
No, No, you're doing great.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yes, just keep quiet, keep quiet, yep, okay, please.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Keep quiet all right, and listeners, please come back tomorrow
for the answer, and don't forget to subscribe to the
Puzzler podcast and we will meet you here tomorrow for
more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Hello puzzlers, I'm here with the extra credit answer from
last episode. As you know, I'm the chief Puzzle Officer,
Greg Pliska. We played daily shows with Roy Wood Junior
where every answer was a show with a day of
the week in the name. We gave you the clue.
This showtime comedy shows the events leading up to an
(10:50):
historical event where the losses are estimated at one point
seventy one trillion dollars. That, of course is black money.
Hope you enjoyed. We'll see you back here again soon.
Thanks for playing along with the team here at the Puzzler.
(11:13):
I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer. Our executive producers
are Neelie Lohman and Adam Newhouse of New House Ideas
and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced
by Jody Abergan and Brittany Brown of Roulette Productions. Our
associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg. The Puzzler with Aj Jacobs
(11:36):
is a co production with New House Ideas and is
distributed by Poached Artists Oh No Sorry Rearrange the Letters
distributed by iHeart Podcasts. If you want to know more
about puzzling puzzles, please check out the book The Puzzler
by AJ Jacobs, a history of puzzles that The New
York Times called fun and funny. It features an original
(11:59):
puzzle hunt by yours Truly, and is available wherever you
get your books and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs,
go visit the puzzler dot com. See you there,
Hello Puzzlers. Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, the Apple Cake
and Your Puzzling Swanson's TV Dinner. I'm your host, AJ Jacobs,
and I'm here with our guests, the awesome Eric Zimmer,
(00:24):
host of the wonderful podcast right here on. iHeart the
one you feed, which I have been lucky enough to
be a guest on.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome Eric, Hi, Aj, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are delighted. I love your show, and I also
love the way you start your show. You always start
your podcast with the same parable, So would you mind
telling it to us?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Sure, it's an old parable. We don't really know where
it comes from. Some people think it's a Native American parable.
Other people insist that's not true. I've been able to
find no definitive scholarship, so we don't know where it
comes from. But it goes like this. There's a grandparent
who's talking with their grandchild and they say, in life,
there are two wolves inside of us that are always
at battle. One is a good wolf, which represents things
(01:13):
like kindness and bravery and love, and the other is
a bad wolf, which represents things like greed and hatred
and fear. And the grandchild stops think about it for
a second. They look up at their grandparent and they say, well,
which one wins, and the grandparent says, the one you feed.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
I love that. I love that for many reasons. First
of all, I love it because the first time I
heard it was from my son's Rabbi when he was
preparing for his aparmits. Well, but I also love it
because it's such a good message and weirdly, and I
don't think this is a stretch. I think that it's
very relevant to puzzles.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, well, you and I talked about that on our
most recent conversation on my show. I think you've been
on a couple times at this point, and we were
able to talk about the way that parable relates to
puzzles last time.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah right, And for those you should go listen to that.
But in my book on Puzzles, I talk about the
puzzler mindset, which is all about seeing the world as
a series of puzzles instead of a series of problems.
And I actually Quincy Jones, the great musician, he said
his life philosophy is I don't have problems, I have puzzles.
(02:27):
So reframing your problems as puzzles because problems are like
the bad wolf to me. They're negative, they're they're intimidating,
and puzzles are like the good wolf. They're sort of
playful and experimental. So if you feed the good wolf
of puzzles in your life, then you will have more
(02:51):
curiosity and positivity than negativity and fear. So that's my
pitch for why puzzles are not just fun but good
for your psyche.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
I couldn't agree more. I think you just you saying
that just made me think of a situation in my
own life that I should try and or I don't
don't know. If I say should I could try and
reframe as a puzzle versus just a problem.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, I'll tell you I use it. I've been using
it recently with people when I talk politics, because you know,
my gut instinct is to try to argue with them
and like bash them over the head with my correctness.
But that's not going to work. That never works, So
instead turn it into a puzzle. What do we really
(03:37):
disagree about? Why do we disagree? What evidence is there
that could convince me or her of a different way
to look at it?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah? And what did what do they? You know? What
are the series of experiences in their life that have
caused them to come to that conclusion. Right. You know
that's another aspect of the puzzle, like why are they
why do they see the world this way? Because that
ato unlocks a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Right. Okay, I love talking psychology, but we've got an
agenda here. We are a puzzle show, so we're gonna
move into the puzzle portion. Are you ready to play
a quick puzzle?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I am, I'm I'm not a great puzzle solver, so
you know, I hope I do okay here, but yes,
I am certainly ready.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
No, we like that first of all, everyone. We believe
everyone is a good puzzle solver. It's just you have
to let it out. It's feeding that wolf, right, the
puzzle wolf. Well, this puzzle we came up with is
actually related to your wonderful show, which is about psychology
and self improvement. So the idea for this puzzle is
(04:43):
that your show is so good it needs some spinoffs.
So we've come up with a bunch of ideas for
spinoffs that happened to rhyme with your show, the one
you feed. So you're gonna have to guess what is
the spinoff, and I'm going to tell you a parable
that's at the start of every show, and based on
the parable, you are going to have to figure it out. So,
(05:05):
for instance, if the parable is about two gardens, not wolves,
but two gardens, and one of them has a nice,
clean flower bed with no invasive plants, the title of
that show might be the one you we'd weed exactly. Okay,
you got it? So are you ready?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I am ready, by the way, you got that very quickly.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
So I want to say you're underestimating yourself. Uh, this
show starts with a parable about two books, and one
of those books has better spelling and fewer typos, and
that show is the one you.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Well, if it's a better book, it's an AJ Jacobs book, right,
we know that, we know that, so but I'm pretty
sure what you're aiming at there is the one you read, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Or even more the one you if you're looking for typos,
the one you one you preroo freed.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Oh, you've got multiple syllables in there. That's is that legal?
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, we set the rules. I will say. First of all,
you cannot do better than your first answer about my books,
so you get not only a correct you get like
two points.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:20):
How about if this show starts with a parable about
two loads of bread, one is softer? The title of
that show might be the one you need k exactly
ad exactly. It's a little tricky with the K. How
abing a show what starts with a parable about two
(06:41):
football teams and which one wins? You need someone to
help you win on the sidelines. The one you.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
All hang on, I don't need another hint, The one
you cheer lead excellent.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
See now you're in the double syllables. You're fine with it.
All right. Here's the one maybe a little trickier. This
parable is about a colonial doctor. I'm doing a book
about the early America, so it's on my mind a
colonial doctor and two of his patients. The one who
was cured is the one who.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You well, I'm I'm thinking we're talking about medicine back
in the days before we really knew what the heck
we were doing, and I think a common cure at
that time was one variation of it was leeches. So
I'm going to say the one you bleed.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You got it, the one you belied, And by the way,
for my book, I researched. You can still buy medicinal leeches,
which claim is sort of like the alternative medicine like
Goop type that you actually these will I don't clean
your chakras and make you healthy.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, you know that's really interesting. When you say Goop,
do you mean the magazine that it was founded by.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah, the Gwyneth Paul Show, sort of lifestyle alternative medicals.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I don't think that. I don't think that group of
buying leeches a j. I just don't think that's I
think you're I think it's it's alternative medicine, but I
think it's a different crowd.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
All right, Well, have you heard some of the things
they do, I mean family podcast. I don't know if
I want to get into details.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Okay, all right, you're right. I just well, we'll see.
Maybe we could maybe we could ask them.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think it's worth asking. All right, what about one
last one? What about this is a show about two startups? Uh,
and you're an angel investor, and the one that succeeds
is the one that you the one that goes to
an I p O is the one you.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Oh goodness, all right, let me think.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
A little tricky. So if you're an angel investor, and there's.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
The one, the one you have the most greed.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Oh, I give you full credit. That was now what
I was going.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Now, okay, give me another hit.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Well do you know there's like different rounds. There's the
round as.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Oh, yes, yes, yes, I've got it all right, the
one you seed.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Exactly you did it say? I knew you were a
good puzzler. Thank you so much, Eric.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That was fun.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I'm so glad. I'm glad that I was able to
have you on my show, in addition to being on
your wonderful show. Speaking of which, where can listeners find
your show?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
You can search for the one you feed in any
podcast app you use, or if you want to know
more about it, you can go to one you feed
dot net. That's O N E y O U F
e E d dot net.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Love it. And before we wrap up, as always were
all you puzzlers at home, an extra credit puzzle. What
if there's a show about two? It starts with a
parable of two sheep in an animal husbandry program. The
one who has more offspring is the one you blank?
(10:00):
I see, Eric, I.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Think am I supposed to answer or not?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
No, No, you're doing great.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yes, just keep quiet, keep quiet, yep, okay, please.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Keep quiet all right, and listeners, please come back tomorrow
for the answer, and don't forget to subscribe to the
Puzzler podcast and we will meet you here tomorrow for
more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Hello puzzlers, I'm here with the extra credit answer from
last episode. As you know, I'm the chief Puzzle Officer,
Greg Pliska. We played daily shows with Roy Wood Junior
where every answer was a show with a day of
the week in the name. We gave you the clue.
This showtime comedy shows the events leading up to an
(10:50):
historical event where the losses are estimated at one point
seventy one trillion dollars. That, of course is black money.
Hope you enjoyed. We'll see you back here again soon.
Thanks for playing along with the team here at the Puzzler.
(11:13):
I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer. Our executive producers
are Neelie Lohman and Adam Newhouse of New House Ideas
and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced
by Jody Abergan and Brittany Brown of Roulette Productions. Our
associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg. The Puzzler with Aj Jacobs
(11:36):
is a co production with New House Ideas and is
distributed by Poached Artists Oh No Sorry Rearrange the Letters
distributed by iHeart Podcasts. If you want to know more
about puzzling puzzles, please check out the book The Puzzler
by AJ Jacobs, a history of puzzles that The New
York Times called fun and funny. It features an original
(11:59):
puzzle hunt by yours Truly, and is available wherever you
get your books and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs,
go visit the puzzler dot com. See you there,
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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