

Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show)
Zak Rosen
Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show) is a short, weekly infusion of delightful, unexpected and strange ways to make life slightly and sometimes profoundly better. In each episode a different contributor offers an odd experiment, a silly ritual, a curious practice that you’ll find weirdly helpful. Stuff like howling when you're despondent, eating oranges in the shower and metaphorically flushing your adversary down the toilet!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 5, 2025 • 12min
A weirdly helpful way to deal with the negative voice in your head with Dr. Ellen Hendriksen
DR. ELLEN HENDRIKSEN (she/her) is a clinical psychologist who will help you calm your anxiety and be your authentic self. She serves on the faculty at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) and is the author of HOW TO BE ENOUGH: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists.
Tell Zak what YOU ARE FINDING WEIRDLY HELPFUL @ 844 935 2378
Listen to this show ad free by becoming a supporter @ patreon.com/weirdlyhelpful
This episode is brought to you with support from Uncommon Goods. Toget 15% off your next gift, go to www.uncommongoods.com/podcast/bestadvice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 29, 2025 • 13min
The Best Advice Show is Dead. This is Weirdly Helpful!
Zak is excited to present Weirdly Helpful, the spiritual successor to The Best Advice Show. On this first episode, Zak talks to artist and therapist, Laura Hawley whose advice from 2020 inspired the new show title.
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This episode is brought to you with support from Uncommon Goods. To
get 15% off your next gift, go to www.uncommongoods.com/podcast/bestadvice
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 27, 2025 • 4min
This is WEIRDLY HELPFUL!
Welcome to Weirdly Helpful. It's like The Best Advice show just weirder. In each episode a different contributor offers an odd experiment, a silly ritual, a curious practice that you’ll find weirdly helpful. Stuff like howling when you're despondent, eating oranges in the shower and metaphorically flushing your adversary down the toilet!
What are you finding weirdly helpful during these trying times? CALL ZAK ON THE WEIRDLY HELPLINE and spill your guts @ 844-935-2378 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 22, 2025 • 35min
If Ambition Is Making You Unhappy with Courtney Daniels
This is an episode of a new podcast I really like called Gen X at Midlife. The show was created by TBAS contributor, Courtney Daniels. In this episode she talks to her longtime friend Tess Hawes about her experience of midlife crisis, Courtney's self-rejecting ambition, Tess' divorce and career pivot, and how to get out of depression. They touch on the book "Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life" by James Hollis, "Mind Your Body" by Nicole Sachs, and Courtney's therapist, Lisa Chen, whom she highly recommends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 15, 2025 • 16min
The True Meaning of Discipline with John Cage and Mason Currey
Today's episode is based on Mason Currey's piece, John Cage on the true meaning of discipline. You should subscribe to Mason's essential newsletter, Subtle Maneuvers. And here's his piece about totally insane, unhinged, helpful strategies.
Mason's book, Making Art and Making a Living is available for pre-order here.
The John Cage interview excerpts come from The Internet Archive. Hear the whole thing @John Cage interviewed by Jack Hirschman in Los Angeles, 1963.
Mason was last on TBAS talking about procrastinating properly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 8, 2025 • 4min
Dogs and Berries Are Miracles. Why Not Combine Them?
Leora is a doctor and dog lover and berry lover. This advice originally aired back in August of 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 1, 2025 • 7min
You Don't Need To Remember Everything with Susannah Goodman
Susannah Goodman is an artist and potter and community organizer in Detroit.
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Leftovering with Susannah Goodman
Noticing with Susannah Goodman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 24, 2025 • 29min
Zak interviews his hero Jonathan Goldstein
I originally interviewed Jonathan Goldstein, creator and host of the greatest podcast of all time, Heavyweight, back in 2017 for Transom.org. I'm playing it here to celebrate Heavyweight's grand return.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 17, 2025 • 8min
This Experiment Will Help You Move From Procrastinating to Creating with Malaka Gharib
Malaka Gharib is a writer, journalist, and cartoonist. She is the author of I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir, winner of an Arab American Book Award and named one of the best books of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and the New York Public Library. By day, she works on NPR’s science desk, covering the topic of global health and development. Her comics, zines, and writing have been published in NPR, Catapult, The Seventh Wave Magazine, The Nib, The Believer, and The New Yorker.
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Mason Currey's Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
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Brad Stulburg on not needing to feel good to get going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 10, 2025 • 7min
Don't Wish Your Life Away with Lilly Turmelle
Lilly Turmelle is a Maine-based creative and lifelong explorer. After calling many different countries home, she now lives on the Maine coast with her partner and their two-year-old son, embracing a simple life by the sea.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


