Two Percent with Michael Easter

Robert Young Pelton spent his early career as an advertising executive with 50 employees, a Rolls Royce, and a half acre on the ocean. At 40, he walked away from it to become a journalist and report from the world's most dangerous places. In the 30 years since, a Liberian rebel has put a bullet two inches from his ear, a Colombian death squads have held him at gunpoint for ten days, and he’s arranged secret dinners between American generals and Taliban leaders. His method has never changed: show up, sit down, ask about their kids, and understand why people do what they do.
This conversation is packed with some of his wildest stories and lessons for a life well travelled. Robert shares why traveling is statistically safer than staying home. He also shares how the State Department uses their travel warnings for political reasons, rather than communicating how safe a region actually is. Plus, the rule he lives by at 70, happy and married for almost 50 years: the clock is ticking, so don't be afraid to reinvent yourself.

This episode is not suitable for children as it contains descriptions of violence.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people will never even think about climbing Mount Everest. Dr. Jon Kedrowski has been on seven Everest expeditions and reached the summit four times. Along the way he survived the 2015 earthquake that killed 20 people in front of him at base camp, a storm that killed seven climbers on the night of his first summit push, and a lightning strike that destroyed his tent on a Colorado peak while he slept on the summit.
Jon sat down with Michael to explain his Everest Ready philosophy: build a body and a mindset that could take on the hardest thing imaginable at any moment.
They get into how he decides when to walk away from a mountain (including a deadly K2 winter expedition), why traffic jams have become Everest's real danger, and why a first ascent of an untouched peak felt better than reaching the top of the world.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria Konnikova earned a PhD in psychology at Columbia studying human decision-making. She then took her research into the most unforgiving laboratory there is: the poker table. From playing her first hand of poker in 2017, to training under the legendary Erik Seidel, and becoming a poker champion, Maria sits down with Michael the day before playing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, to share the secrets to making winning decisions.
They break down why the best hand wins only 12% of the time and what that means for skill and luck in your own life. Maria explains the illusion of control, winner's tilt, and how to actually read tells (watch the hands, not the face). She also covers why a 1% edge matters more than you think, how to avoid the risk of ruin, and when to walk away from a bad investment, a bad job, or a bad friendship.
Maria is the author of “The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win.” Her other books include The Confidence Game and Mastermind.

She also writes The Leap, a weekly Substack about decision making.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer is peak reading season, so Michael sits down with Alex Wieckowski of Alex & Books, who has read two books a week for the past decade. Together they build a list of some of their favorite books, including one hidden gem from Tolstoy, “A Calendar of Wisdom.” Alex tells the true survival story that made complaining impossible for him. He also reveals the classic novel that scared him into cleaning up his habits.
Then they play overrated or underrated with the biggest self-improvement books ever written: Atomic Habits, Man's Search for Meaning, 12 Rules for Life, The 4-Hour Workweek and more. Alex then reveals the skill that helps him remember every book he reads, turning its lessons into actions. They also get into lifting weights with Alex Hormozi, the trap of "next book syndrome," and whether AI will ever replace real writing.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It turns out that tennis might be one of the best things you can do to protect your brain from dementia as you age. For this episode of Two Percent, Michael Easter sits down with neuroscientist Dr. Tommy Wood, author of The Stimulated Mind, to explain why sports that make you think while you move are amazing for your brain. The list includes tennis, pickleball, martial arts, and even strongman competitions.
They get into why the world's most physically active elders in an Amazonian tribe have some of the lowest dementia rates ever measured. They also cover what "open-skill" sports actually do to your brain on an MRI scan, and how modern exercise got so boring the moment we split the body from the mind. Then Michael opens the mailbag for an AMA. He shares how to stay fit while traveling and names the single best exercise if you could only pick one. Finally, he settles a debate that has haunted him since college: what is the actual difference between a sport and a game?

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.