The James Altucher Show
James Altucher
James Altucher interviews the world's leading peak performers in every area of life. But instead of giving you the typical success story, James digs deeper to find the "Choose Yourself" story - these are the moments we relate to... when someone rises up from personal struggle to reinvent themselves. The James Altucher Show brings you into the lives of peak-performers: billionaires, best-selling authors, rappers, astronauts, athletes, comedians, actors, and the world champions in every field, all who forged their own paths, found financial freedom and harnessed the power to create more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Episodes
Mentioned books
7 snips
Nov 1, 2026 • 53min
Kamal Ravikant: Maybe a Pilgrimage Can Save Your Life [From the Archive]
Kamal Ravikant, an author, entrepreneur, and investor, shares how carrying his father’s ashes led him to the Camino de Santiago. He and James explore grief, forgiveness, fear as a compass, and why pilgrimage can take many forms. They discuss meditation, creativity, rituals, entrepreneurship, and the power of fiction to transform us.
7 snips
Oct 31, 2026 • 43min
Chandler Bolt: How to Make Your Book Stand Out in the AI Era
Chandler Bolt, entrepreneur and founder of selfpublishing.com, explores what makes books matter in the AI era. They discuss niche markets, why generic nonfiction struggles, self-publishing economics, audiobooks, Amazon discovery, and the role of trust, lived experience, and distribution. Bolt also introduces the viral coefficient and explains how books can drive business growth beyond royalties.
25 snips
Oct 21, 2026 • 57min
Tom Bilyeu: What to Do If AI Threatens Your Career
Tom Bilyeu, co-founder of Quest Nutrition and founder of Impact Theory, explores what happens when AI reshapes careers and business. He discusses building his AI-powered game Kaizen, compressing development from months to hours, testing ideas before investing heavily, using AI to challenge assumptions, and finding opportunities in crowded markets. They also examine human judgment, storytelling, entrepreneurship, and the risks of AI’s rapid expansion.
Oct 13, 2026 • 46min
Carlos Gutierrez: ADHD Diagnosed at 65, Career Lessons
Carlos Gutierrez, former Kellogg CEO and U.S. Commerce Secretary, recounts fleeing Cuba, struggling in school, and rising from a sales job to the top of corporate and government leadership. He discusses his late ADHD diagnosis, leadership mistakes, tough decisions, Trump’s CEO-style presidency, tariffs, China’s negotiating strategy, and why staying with the right company can transform a career.
Oct 7, 2026 • 49min
David Rubenstein: Why Owners Care About Winning, Not Money
David Rubenstein, billionaire investor, philanthropist, and Baltimore Orioles owner, discusses why sports ownership is driven by winning and civic pride rather than profit. He shares lessons on firing managers, negotiating passion projects, trusting experts, and the limits of money, analytics, and AI in baseball. He also explores how fans borrow their team’s success and what ownership reveals about leadership.
9 snips
Oct 4, 2026 • 1h 55min
The Art of a Great Question with Cal Fussman [From the Archive]
Cal Fussman, the celebrated Esquire interviewer behind conversations with Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, and Mikhail Gorbachev, explores the art of asking unforgettable questions. He shares how years of unplanned travel taught him to read people, build trust, and follow curiosity. Topics include ditching interview notebooks, rebuilding adult curiosity, lessons from Larry King and Oprah, and how podcasts create deeper human connection.
7 snips
Sep 30, 2026 • 33min
Bill O'Reilly on Brokering a Secret Hostage Release Deal
Bill O’Reilly, veteran journalist, author, and founder of No Spin News, recounts how he helped connect Biden’s team with Trump to secure a hostage-release deal. He discusses his new book, media polarization, Iran policy, Trump, Mamdani, Soros, and the freedom of independent media. He also reflects on his father’s final words and whether he has fulfilled his potential.
69 snips
Sep 27, 2026 • 1h 41min
Annie Duke on Why We Judge Decisions by Results, Not Logic [From the Archive]
Annie Duke, former professional poker player, decision scientist, and author of Thinking in Bets, explores why results can mislead us about decision quality. She discusses probabilistic thinking, borrowing expertise through strong communities, seeking dissent, practicing deliberate feedback, and using mental time travel to make wiser choices. A lively conversation about uncertainty, learning, parenting, and redefining winning.
Sep 16, 2026 • 49min
The Friendliest Store in the Mall | Ron Johnson Built the Apple Store
Ron Johnson, the retail visionary behind Apple Stores and Target’s design-led transformation, recounts how he and Steve Jobs reinvented shopping. They explore why customers needed to touch and experience the Mac, how hospitality replaced hard selling, the thinking behind Apple’s locations and layouts, Steve Jobs’s demanding leadership, Tesla’s retail influence, and why memorable stores still matter.
9 snips
Sep 13, 2026 • 1h 14min
Jon Morrow: The Man Who Changed the Rules [From the Archive]
Jon Morrow, entrepreneur, writer, and founder of Smart Blogger, shares a remarkable journey shaped by spinal muscular atrophy. He discusses assistive technology, low expectations, Medicaid’s financial trap, and rebuilding after his family’s collapse. The conversation explores viral writing, free work, online courses, surviving a catastrophic car accident, brain-controlled technology, and the sacrifices behind extraordinary achievement.
