The James Altucher Show

Notes from James:

Here’s the truth: if my great-great-great grandfather had written anything—just 10 pages about his daily life—I’d treasure it like gold. And I promise, your great-grandkids will feel the same about your story.

You don’t need to be a celebrity to write something that matters. You just need to be honest. Whether you're sharing how you survived grief, learned to say no, built new habits, or rebuilt your life a...

A Note from James:

I can't think of anything more boring to talk about than tariffs, but right now, I can't think of anything more interesting either. Tariffs are dominating the news, stock markets are crashing, and everyone is scared. Are tariffs good or bad? Is Trump wrecking the economy or saving it? I'm going to address these questions, looking at what tariffs aim to achieve, their impact on the economy, the stock marke...

A Note from James:

Jay, remind me, I've gotta send this episode to my kids because I cannot believe what that guy just told us. Chris Hutchins, he has the "All the Hacks" podcast and so many interesting things at his website, allthehacks.com. But I don't like the word life hack. A lot of that stuff is just BS.

But this was legit—from buying gold bars at Costco to making money off gift cards. He has so many weird, interesting...

A Note from James:

Sahil Bloom is one of probably the wisest people I've had on the podcast. Young guy just wrote the book, The Five Types of Wealth, and he's talking about time wealth, social wealth, mental wealth, physical wealth, and of course, financial wealth. He’s developed content and techniques he's shared in his newsletter and on Twitter, offering concise, easy-to-understand ways for increasing your wealth in each ...

A Note from James:

Is it possible to travel around the world, live around the world, do remote work anywhere you want, and spend just $75 a day or less? When I was younger, I wish I'd tried this. Back then, you probably could have done it for even less, maybe $30 a day! Today's guest, Matt Kepnes—better known as Nomadic Matt—has spent decades traveling the globe on a budget. Ten years ago, he wrote How to Travel the World o...

A Note from James:

As you listen to this episode, ask yourself: would you do what my guest Scott Payne did for 28 years? He’s a retired undercover FBI agent who spent nearly three decades infiltrating some of the most dangerous groups in America—white supremacist organizations, outlaw biker gangs, and domestic terror cells. His new book, Code Name: Pale Horse, reveals the harrowing details of his undercover life, including ...

I had such a great conversation with my good friend, Sun Yi on his podcast, called Authentic as F*ck, and I felt like I had to say the full name of the podcast because I wanna be authentic. Authenticity is complex, and being yourself isn't always straightforward. With friends, I'm different than when giving a talk or doing a podcast. But authenticity involves knowing who you are in different contexts and ...

Notes from James:

I’ve been seeing a ton of misinformation lately about tariffs and inflation, so I had to set the record straight. People assume tariffs drive prices up across the board, but that’s just not how economics works. Inflation happens when money is printed, not when certain goods have price adjustments due to trade policies.

I explain why the current tariffs aren’t a repeat of the Great Depression-era Smoot-Haw...

Notes from James:

What if I told you that we could eliminate the IRS, get rid of personal income taxes completely, and still keep the government funded? Sounds impossible, right? Well, not only is it possible, but historical precedent shows it has been done before.

I know what you’re thinking—this sounds insane. But bear with me. The IRS collects $2.5 trillion in personal income taxes each year. But what if we could replac...

A note from James:

I love digging into topics that make us question everything we thought we knew. Fort Knox is one of those legendary places we just assume is full of gold, but has anyone really checked? The fact that Musk even brought this up made me wonder—why does the U.S. still hold onto all that gold when our money isn’t backed by it anymore? And what if the answer is: it’s not there at all?

This episode is a deep di...

Who's better than you? That's the book written by Will Packer, who has been producing some of my favorite movies since he was practically a teenager. He produced Straight Outta Compton, he produced Girls Trip with former podcast guest Tiffany Haddish starring in it, and he's produced a ton of other movies against impossible odds.

How did he build the confidence? What were some of his crazy stories? Here'...

You know what drives me crazy? When people say, "I have to build a personal brand." Usually, when something has a brand, like Coca-Cola, you think of a tasty, satisfying drink on a hot day. But really, a brand is a lie—it's the difference between perception and reality. Coca-Cola is just a sugary brown drink that's unhealthy for you. So what does it mean to have a personal brand?

I discussed this with Ni...

I've done about a dozen podcasts in the past few years about anti-aging and longevity—how to live to be 10,000 years old or whatever. Some great episodes with Brian Johnson (who spends $2 million a year trying to reverse his aging), David Sinclair (author of Lifespan and one of the top scientists researching aging), and even Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis, who co-wrote Life Force. But Peter just did so...