The Power of the First Question

This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #421 "Dr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope" and episode #145 "The Interview Master: Cal Fussman and the Power of Listening."

Please enjoy!

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Start

[04:48] Notes about this supercombo format.

[05:51] Enter Dr. Jane Goodall.

[06:19] Connecting with Louis Leakey and becoming his secretary.

[09:43] Gaining acceptance among chimpanzees.

[13:09] Primate personalities, compassion, and the story of Old Man saving Marc Cusano.

[17:34] Observations of chimpanzee compassion and violence, and inferences about human nature.

[19:19] Explaining variance in chimpanzee attitudes toward dominance.

[20:55] Cultivating hope to overcome apathy.

[26:19] Mr. H, Gary Haun, the indomitable human spirit, and overcoming adversity.

[29:37] Dr. Goodall's billboard.

[31:20] Enter Cal Fussman.

[32:56] Quincy Jones' unique book signing practice.

[34:19] Cal's pivotal childhood moment.

[38:55] Deconstructing the skill of asking great questions.

[42:43] Contrasting interview styles from different life stages.

[48:25] University of Missouri Journalism's role in Cal's career.

[52:24] Drinking with Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny Depp.

[55:45] Cal's start in international travel (and my family trip to Iceland).

[1:06:34] How a single question got Cal six months of lodging.

[1:14:45] Common mistakes and lessons learned about the art of asking questions.

[1:23:30] Honing the ability to tell stories.

[1:27:11] A life-changing event at the end of Cal's travels.

[1:31:43] Perfecting the conversational interview.

[1:33:43] Speaking at Summit at Sea.

[1:46:15] What Mikhail Gorbachev taught Cal about the art of the interview.

[1:55:45] Boxing Julio César Chávez.

[2:30:31] Why Alex Banayan and George Foreman define success for Cal.

[2:42:58] Most gifted books.

[2:49:47] Favorite documentaries and movies.

[2:55:37] Cal's billboard.

[2:56:08] Advice to Cal's 30-year-old self.

[2:59:05] Overcoming writer's block with Harry Crews' advice.

[3:18:56] Parting thoughts.

*

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.

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