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Every episode
A Bit of Optimism
30 episodes
How to Say the Hard Thing and Keep the Relationship | A Bit of Optimism: Feelings at Work | PART 5
Ep 25 · Aug 11, 2026 · 46 min
Every lasting relationship has survived at least a few hard conversations. But most of us would still rather not have them... So we put them off and tell ourselves the tension will fade on its own. Instead it goes underground: into the stories we build about people, the resentments we quietly collect, and the side-texts we send about a colleague we won't talk to directly. But a hard conversation is a short burst of discomfort in exchange for something better on the other side: trust, collaborati…
Why Being Right Is Costing You Trust | A Bit of Optimism: Feelings at Work | PART 4
Ep 24 · Aug 4, 2026 · 53 min
Everyone says they want more accountability at work… yet few of us think we're the ones who need to learn how to be more accountable. Most of us believe we already know how to own a mistake. We've all said sorry and truly meant it. But meaning it and doing it well are two very different things. And when we’re the first to apologize, we model to everyone around us how cathartic accountability can be. Feelings at Work is a special five-part series from A Bit of Optimism, where Simon Sinek and Alex…
What Is Your Team Afraid to Tell You? | A Bit of Optimism: Feelings at Work | PART 3
Ep 23 · Jul 28, 2026 · 58 min
Giving and receiving feedback is one of the hardest things we do at work and most of us just... avoid it. But avoiding feedback has a cost. Everything you need to grow is already in the room and it's just sitting in your blind spot. Your colleagues can see it. Your boss can see it. And nobody will tell you, unless you learn to ask. Feelings at Work is a special five-part series from A Bit of Optimism, where Simon Sinek and Alex Simon, founder of LifeShop, explore the human skills that shape how…
The Secret to Better Conversations Isn't Talking | A Bit of Optimism: Feelings at Work | PART 2
Ep 22 · Jul 21, 2026 · 49 min
The fastest way to improve your relationships isn't talking. It's listening. Most of us hear what's being said. Very few of us know how to make someone feel heard. Feelings at Work is a special five-part series from A Bit of Optimism, where Simon Sinek and Alex Simon, founder of LifeShop, explore the human skills that shape how we work, lead, and build relationships. Together, they unpack the emotional challenges most of us face every day—from people pleasing and listening to giving feedback, ta…
The Hidden Cost of Always Saying Yes | A Bit of Optimism: Feelings at Work | PART 1
Ep 21 · Jul 14, 2026 · 58 min
Welcome to Feelings at Work, a special series from A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek. Work isn't just about deadlines, meetings, and getting things done. It's also where we experience frustration, excitement, trust, anxiety, belonging, conflict, and joy. If we want to build healthier teams and better workplaces, we have to get better at understanding the emotions that shape how we work together. That's what this series is about. In each episode, Simon Sinek sits down with Yale professor and Lif…
Why We Fall for the Wrong Person with Couples Therapist Dr. Harville Hendrix
Ep 20 · Jul 7, 2026 · 54 min
Maybe this sounds familiar: you fall hard for someone, and over a year later you're fighting about the very things that drew you to them in the first place. And you can't figure out how the person who felt so right suddenly feels so wrong. Dr. Harville Hendrix has spent 50 years studying love. And he’s also lived through its hardest challenges: one divorce, two near-misses in his current marriage, and a couple’s therapist who fired him and his wife, calling them "the couple from hell." That marr…
How to Tell If Fear Is Protecting You or Holding You Back with Extreme Athlete Nelly Attar
Ep 19 · Jun 30, 2026 · 51 min
We tell ourselves the reason we never chase the big dream is that we're not ready, not brave enough, doomed to fail. Nelly Attar would tell you she felt all of that too… but she chased them anyway. Nelly is a psychologist turned extreme athlete and mountaineer. She built Saudi Arabia's first dance studio, MOVE, at a time when women couldn't train publicly by sneaking classes into a warehouse and office building after hours. She's the first Lebanese person to climb the five highest peaks in the w…
Remembering Bob Chapman: The Mentor Who Changed My Life
Ep 18 · Jun 23, 2026 · 52 min
Sixteen years ago, an unknown CEO running a manufacturing company in the Midwest saw my TED Talk and recognized something in it. He sent me a letter and we made plans to meet. What started as a one-hour lunch turned into three, then four days touring factories together across the Midwest, and an idea I had only imagined turned out to already exist in reality. That CEO was Bob Chapman. Over five decades, Bob grew an unassuming manufacturing company in the Midwest into a global proof point that le…
The AI Skills Nobody is Teaching (And Everyone Needs) with AI Expert Ethan Mollick
Ep 17 · Jun 16, 2026 · 59 min
Be honest: AI makes you a little nervous. Maybe you're afraid it'll take your job. Maybe you're overwhelmed by all the advice about prompts and agents and which chatbot to use. Or maybe you're just quietly hoping it'll all slow down. Ethan Mollick says we're underestimating our own agency in the age of AI. Instead of worrying about what AI will do to us, we should focus on what we choose to do with it. Ethan is a Wharton professor, the author of the bestseller Co-Intelligence: Living and Working…
How to Stop Letting Your Own Thoughts Make You Sick, Stressed, and Stuck with Dr. Ellen Langer
Ep 16 · Jun 9, 2026 · 57 min
Most of us are so certain about, well, everything. We think we can predict what's coming, what that off-hand comment really meant, what that look was about, what's going to go wrong. And according to Dr. Ellen Langer, that certainty is making us miserable… and possibly making us sick. Dr. Langer is a psychologist, Harvard professor, and the "Mother of Mindfulness." In her book The Mindful Body, she makes the case that the way we think directly shapes the way we heal, age, stress, and recover. He…
What Happens When You Stop Optimizing and Start Committing with Former LA Lakers President Tim Harris
Ep 227 · Jun 2, 2026 · 57 min
In a world of job-hopping, side hustles, and an endless LinkedIn feed, Tim Harris did something almost no one does anymore. He stayed put. Few executives spend an entire career helping build a dynasty. Tim Harris spent 35 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, rising to President of Business Operations and helping transform the franchise into a global brand. Through championship eras, iconic athletes like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and decades of change in professional sports, Tim's influence was…
Revisited: Choose Your Seven Humans Wisely with Author Fredrik Backman
Ep 226 · May 26, 2026 · 58 min
Hello from Team Simon! We're taking a quick break this week and will be back with brand-new episodes of A Bit of Optimism next Tuesday. Until then, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes — when bestselling novelist Fredrik Backman joined the show to talk about the thing he's spent his whole career writing about: the quiet, radical power of showing up for people. And Fredrik says great friendships aren't found by luck. They're built deliberately, repeatedly, and, sometimes, inconveniently…
How to Stop Being Socially Awkward (According to Science) with Behavioral Scientist Vanessa Van Edwards
Ep 225 · May 19, 2026 · 59 min
Maybe this sounds familiar: you leave a party and spend the rest of the night convinced everyone was upset with you. Or you replay something you said in a meeting for days and second-guess every last word. Vanessa Van Edwards has been there. As a self-proclaimed "recovering awkward person," she’s spent two decades decoding the hidden dynamics of human interaction to make those skills teachable for introverts and extroverts alike. Vanessa is a behavioral researcher, bestselling author, and founde…
Stop Telling Us Everything Happens for a Reason with Anti-Victim Tom Nash
Ep 224 · May 12, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
We often comfort ourselves with the idea that things happen for a reason, or define our struggles as a test of strength. Tom Nash might ask you to reconsider. Tom is a speaker, former DJ, and globe-trotting advocate for agency, anti-fragility, and the radical idea that your worst moment might be your greatest asset — as he argued in his TED Talk, "The Perks of Being a Pirate.” He’s also the mind behind Last Meal with Tom Nash where he asks his guests what their last meal would be if the world en…
The Real Reason You Feel Empty (Even When Life Looks Good) with Musician Mike Posner
Ep 223 · May 5, 2026 · 53 min
If at some point, you've looked at your life—your job, your relationships, your achievements—and thought: “is this it?” This episode is for you. Mike Posner had that moment at 30. His life, by every external measure, was extraordinary: he had hit songs, Grammy nominations, millions in the bank. He was a pop star… And he was miserable. What followed was one of the most honest reckonings we've ever heard on this show. Mike walked across America, survived a rattlesnake bite, climbed Everest, and ca…
The Real Reason Young People Don't Have 'The Hunger' for Work (And What Leaders Need to Hear) with Generations Expert Dr. Eliza Filby
Ep 222 · Apr 28, 2026 · 1 hr 25 min
Admit it, you've complained about at least one other generation. Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z—somehow, they all end up with reputations built around what's wrong with them. Dr. Eliza Filby has a different suggestion: stop asking what's wrong with them. And start questioning what world they were handed. Eliza is a contemporary historian, generations expert, and the author of Sunday Times bestseller: Inheritocracy. And with more generations in the workplace than at any point in history, she…
The Leadership Advice Nobody Follows (But Everyone Should) with Top Leadership Expert Don Yaeger
Ep 221 · Apr 21, 2026 · 55 min
The most successful leaders, coaches, and teams in history share one counterintuitive secret: their main focus wasn’t winning. And yet… they won more than everyone else. My guest, Don Yaeger, learned this lesson from his mentor: legendary college basketball coach John Wooden. Don is one of my favorite master storytellers, a top business leadership coach, author of 44 books, 13 of them New York Times bestsellers, and a former Associate Editor at Sports Illustrated. Don has worked alongside the gr…
Why This Baseball Team Has a 4.2 Million Person Waitlist With Savannah Bananas Founder Jesse Cole
Ep 220 · Apr 14, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
We talk a lot about building successful things. But what does it actually take to build something people love? Jesse Cole has built an entirely new genre of entertainment: The Savannah Bananas and the Banana Ball League. They’re a viral sensation, selling out stadiums across the country, and have over 4.2 million fans on their ticket waitlist. On the surface, Banana Ball looks like a wild and entertaining version of baseball. But underneath it all is something much more disciplined: an obsession…
Ken Burns and the Art of Telling the Whole Story
Ep 219 · Apr 7, 2026 · 54 min
We live in a world that pushes us to simplify everything: right or wrong, good or bad, this or that. It makes things and our place in the world easier to understand. But the truth is rarely simple… in fact, it’s often messy and deeply human. For 50 years, Ken Burns has mastered his craft, becoming one of the most prolific and respected documentary filmmakers. His documentaries notably resist easy answers. From The Civil War to The Vietnam War to Baseball, Ken has shaped how we understand America…
What Happens When You’re Naive Enough to Try with KIND Founder Daniel Lubetzky
Ep 218 · Mar 31, 2026 · 55 min
Naiveté is one of the most powerful assets an entrepreneur can have. In fact, I think some of the most meaningful things in the world only exist because someone was naive enough to try. Daniel Lubetzky would know. In a crowded category and cutthroat industry, Daniel dared to build a company called KIND. He started with a simple question: how can we help people snack healthily without compromising their values? KIND Bars are now a household name and Daniel achieved his dream of building the cultu…
AI Can Do Everything… Except This (Why Humans Still Win) With Restaurateur Will Guidara
Ep 217 · Mar 24, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
As businesses race toward faster systems, smarter tools, and total automation, something critical is getting lost: human connection. And ironically, the rise of AI is making that gap impossible to ignore. In this episode, I sit down with returning guest and close friend Will Guidara, former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, to explore why humanity is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage in the age of AI. Will helped transform a restaurant into the best in the world, not by reinventing the…
Revisited: What Dying Teaches Us About Living with Death Doula Alua Arthur
Ep 215 · Mar 17, 2026 · 45 min
Team Simon here! While A Bit of Optimism is on a short break, we’re revisiting a few episodes you helped make some of our favorites. We’ll be back with brand-new conversations next week, on March 24th, 2026. In the meantime, we’re bringing back an episode that explores a word most people like to avoid: death. We dance around the subject or use vague euphemisms to not hurt anybody. But what if being open about our deaths meant we could live happier lives? That’s where Alua Arthur comes in. Alua i…
Revisited: The Kennedy Family and the Search for Self with Journalist Maria Shriver
Ep 216 · Mar 10, 2026 · 44 min
Hello from Team Simon! We’re taking a short hiatus, but A Bit of Optimism will return with brand-new episodes March 24th. In the meantime, we’re revisiting some of our favorite episodes. Episodes that many of you who listened, shared them, and told us what resonated. This week, we’re bringing back Simon’s conversation with journalist, author, and longtime friend Maria Shriver. Maria Shriver was born into the legendary Kennedy and Shriver families, arriving with a script already written for her—a…
Revisited: How to Turn Stress Into Creativity With Grammy-Winner Jacob Collier
Ep 214 · Mar 3, 2026 · 59 min
Team Simon here! As we take a short hiatus, A Bit of Optimism will return with brand-new episodes on March 24, 2026. Until then, we’re revisiting some of the conversations you loved and we still think about long after the microphones turned off. This week, we’re rewinding to Simon’s conversation with the wildly creative and endlessly curious Jacob Collier. To create something truly original, do we build something new or break what came before? Perhaps the answer is both—simultaneously. Jacob Col…
The Confidence Conversation We Need to Have with Scott Galloway
Ep 213 · Feb 24, 2026 · 55 min
Scott Galloway and I don’t always see the world the same way, but our friendly debates almost always lead us back to common ground. It’s probably why we enjoy talking to each other as much as we do. If you haven’t heard my friend Scott’s name before, he’s known for being brilliant, provocative, and unapologetically himself. He’s a professor at NYU Stern School of Business, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and larger-than-life social commentator. In recent years, his work, which includes his new…
28 Years on the Force: Chief Angela Averiett on What It Really Takes to Change Police Culture
Ep 212 · Feb 16, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
It’s often true that the most challenging conversations are often the ones most worth having. Conversations that bring up strong feelings, different experiences, and questions without easy answers. Policing, and how we can make it better, is one of those conversations. San Leandro Police Chief Angela Averiett has spent nearly three decades in law enforcement, navigating the profession’s challenges while advocating for a healthier path forward. I met Angela through The Curve, my organization focu…
When Pop Fandom Becomes a Force for Good with AJR’s Adam Met
Ep 211 · Feb 10, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Fanbases are some of the most powerful forces on the planet. They show up. They buy the tickets. They travel across countries and time zones. They memorize lyrics, study interviews, hunt for Easter eggs, and turn the smallest detail into an entire universe of meaning. They collaborate, they organize, and they care deeply. Fan communities are savvy. They are smart. And when they are invited in, they create extraordinary momentum. Adam Met, best known as the “A” of indie-pop band AJR, believes tha…
What Grit Really Teaches Us About Happiness with Professor Angela Duckworth
Ep 210 · Feb 3, 2026 · 56 min
We’re often told that the secret to success is grit - more discipline, more perseverance, more individual effort. And grit does matter. But what if it’s only half the story? In today’s world, we’ve become experts at tracking achievement, yet novices at nurturing belonging - and the cost of that imbalance is showing up everywhere from burnout to loneliness. Few people are better equipped to help me make sense of that tension than today’s guest, Angela Duckworth. Angela is a professor of psycholog…
Matthew McConaughey on How to Fall Back in Love with Your Life
Ep 209 · Jan 27, 2026 · 59 min
In a world defined by constant change, reinvention isn’t optional - it’s essential. We often assume reinvention comes from bold leaps or lucky breaks, but actor and author Matthew McConaughey’s story suggests a quieter approach can be far more powerful. In this episode, Matthew joins me to explore the inner practices that have shaped both his life and his legendary career in Hollywood. From stepping away from romantic comedies at the height of his success to sitting with uncertainty when there w…
Revisited: Trevor Noah Makes My Brain Hurt
Ep 208 · Jan 20, 2026 · 56 min
Hello from Team Simon! We’ll be back next week—January 27, 2026—with brand-new episodes of A Bit of Optimism. We’re excited to bring you new guests, conversations, and opportunities to learn. Until then, we’re diving back into the archives to revisit one of our favorite episodes from 2024, when comedian Trevor Noah joined the show… to get as serious as possible. Most Americans know Trevor as the former host of The Daily Show, a bestselling author, and a stand-up comedian. But his brand of humor…
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