JAMES ALTUCHER | How To Improve Every Day & Harness The Power Of Ideas | Modern Wisdom Podcast 137

... that I like convenience. So if I'm flying somewhere, I don't like to take three stops to save money, I like to just spend the money on no stops.

One of the resources that you cannot buy any more of is time, right? How long's this commute? You're talking maybe an hour a day there, an hour a day back? Two hours a day, five days a week? At the end of your life, you'd give your fortune for an extra minute.

I think that's very important. Now, all of that might change when there's automated driving. I think you'll see kind of these mobile offices driving around, so you can live much further away from your place of work. I mean, if you think about it, right now the equivalent is taking a train into work. But then a train, you know, it's a little crowded, you're sitting next to somebody, you don't really have, like, a desk. But still, I've heard of people doing remarkable things on their commute to work by working on the train ride in. One friend of mine wrote the movie Pitch Perfect by writing one page a day on the subway into work. When everything's automated and convenient and quick, people will think about this in terms of lifestyle. Like, "How can I live further away from the city and get all the benefits of being at work?" Which is what automated driving should give us.

James, hey man. Welcome to the show.

Chris, thanks for having me on the show. I am so glad to be here. Isn't, uh, aren't intros so awkward? Like you just know, you don't, you never really know what to say and how to bring people in. I always have a hard time on podcasts with the intros.

It is the single worst bit of the job. And I, I, you know, behind the curtain I hate doing it, every single time. Do I do this weird, like, foreplay fellatio thing, where I'm telling 'em about all of their accomplishments, or even your inside seam measurement and what you wear, what you like to eat before you go to bed and stuff. Like, I don't know.

(laughs) Well, you know, here's a, here's an idea. I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna do an intro, and then I'm gonna just start talking when people, when we get into conversation, and then I'm gonna hit record. And this way it's like people just jump right into the conversation.

Do you know who Rory Sutherland is?

Uh, yeah, I've heard the name. I don't, I don't know who he is.

Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy Advertising in the UK. You need-

Okay.

... to get him on. Let me link you two up for your podcast, man, 'cause you'll absolutely love him.

Excellent.

But that, that guy is e- the exact same as trying to step onto a s- a train that is moving at high speed. So podcasting with him, he just went. So I was like, "Right, Rory, I'm just gonna, um, I'm, I'm just gonna do a little bit of a sound check and then we'll do an intro." And he went, "Right, Russia." And then just started talking about Russia. And I was like, "No, Rory, I, uh, uh, uh, nevermind. Just hit the record button." Then I was like, "Right, I'll just get cracking from the beginning."