How To! with Charles Duhigg

Kyle wants to sell his 50-year old family insurance business so he can finally retire. But a troublesome employee is holding him back: his daughter. In this episode of How To!, Harvard Business School professor Christina Wing tries to help Kyle figure out how to sell his company without sabotaging their relationship. But if you have to fire your daughter, is it ever strictly business?

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How many times have you looked at your phone so far today? Do you feel like you're choosing to look, or automatically craving it when you ought to be enjoying life? In this episode of How To! we get advice from Jia Tolentino, New Yorker writer and author of Trick Mirror, who spends hours on the phone every day for her job. And Cal Newport, author of Digital Minimalism, whose 30-day 'digital declutter' helps us think more deeply, be more present, and control our devices so they don't control us.

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How do you learn to tell the perfect joke? A pastor from Oklahoma wants to spice up his sermons from the pulpit. So we introduce him to Gary Gulman, a New York standup comedian who makes jokes about his clinical depression in the new HBO comedy special The Great Depresh. The lesson? "Man plans, and God laughs." But only if you nail the delivery.

(This episode first aired on July 30, 2019)

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Megan is 35 years old, a lawyer, happily married — and suddenly not sure if she wants to be a mom. She always figured one day the maternal urge would kick in, but so far she's only felt ambivalence. Does that mean that she shouldn't have a baby? We asked Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, how she juggled this question. She tells us the secret to approaching situations where there is no going back, and how regret — regardless of what we choose — is always part of the equation.

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Can a family travel around the world for a year without killing each other? Dan Kois spent a year in New Zealand, The Netherlands, Costa Rica and Kansas with his wife Alia and their two young daughters, learning how other cultures parent. The result is How to Be A Family: The Year I Dragged My Kids Around the World. What's the secret to traveling together for that long? And what do you do when everyone is tired and whiny and wants to go home?

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How did Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman get so buff to play Deadpool and Wolverine? An up-and-coming Hollywood actor wants to know so he can land his own superhero role. We turn to Reynolds' and Jackman's trainer, Don Saladino, who says the key to six-pack abs and bulging biceps is not what you think. In fact, it's something we can all do.

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Is there a right way to let kids struggle and fail? How do you raise resilient children? And most important, when should you help out, and when should you chill out? We ask Dr. Wendy Mogel, author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee to advise a Portland, Oregon couple who worry about their son getting wet in a squirt gun fight.

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Have you ever wondered how you would fare in the apocalypse? Perhaps you have envisioned yourself, shotgun loaded, prepared to mete out kindhearted justice and tough-love defense in equal measure. It turns out, though, that when the next pandemic comes, it might not be exactly like the movies. We get tips from a public health expert at Johns Hopkins — and a member of the Zombie Squad. Their advice isn't quite the same.

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Matt has anxiety attacks. Every day. When he gets too many texts, when he starts worrying about his family, when the unexpected occurs: that's when the sweat starts and his mind begins racing. He's a strong guy — he was a cop — but he thinks today's problem is connected to a tragic event in the past, and he doesn't know what to do. We introduce him to Dr. Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist and habit expert, to help Matt figure out what's triggering his anxiety attacks and how he can get back control over his head — and his life.

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