Simplify

In season 5, you’ll learn how easy meditation can be with Dan Harris, how to change your self-defeating beliefs with Jen Sincero, and how to talk about race with Robin DiAngelo. You'll also hear what it's like to microdose LSD for a month and learn the surprising ways a little bit of cannabis can improve your health.

If you haven’t subscribed, make sure to do so before the first new episode drops on January 31. If we’re lucky enough to already count you as a Simplify fan, then please spread the word and tell your friends. It really does help! Send us feedback, suggestions, or questions about anything you’ve heard or would like to hear at [email protected]. And if Twitter’s your thing, you’ll find Caitlin @CaitlinSchiller and Ben @bsto.

More soon!

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If a friend of yours needed to hear an unpleasant truth, would you tell it to them? Or would you gloss over it in order to avoid an uncomfortable conversation? Many of us would probably opt for the latter to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, but sometimes loving criticism is necessary to make people understand that they deserve better — and are capable of achieving it.

In conversation with Caitlin, Luvvie Ajayi argues that honesty, judgment and criticism shouldn’t always be perceived as negative — as difficult as it may be to tell someone you expect more of them. “Discomfort will not kill you, but it is necessary for growth”, she says, and speaking the uncomfortable truth will end up making your relationships more sincere and trustworthy.

Tune into this episode to learn the practices of loving criticism from Luvvie Ajayi and find out the benefits of challenging yourself to always say what you mean. And stick around after the interview for when Terence Mickey joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Luvvie Ajayi and helps put together a book list for further reading.

For more info, including links to everything discussed in the episode, click here. Read the transcript of the interview here.

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller, Ben at @bsto and Terence at @terence_mickey

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code troublemaker.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

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Effective collaboration, innovative thinking, and constructive problem-solving can be major struggles for many teams, regardless of industry. But for those who really want to fix these issues, it’s time to look beyond how other companies work and turn to improv comedy ensembles for inspiration. After all, they’ve literally taken teamwork and turned it into an art form.

Reflecting on years of experience with Chicago’s famous Second City improv troupe — where comedians like Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Dan Aykroyd cut their teeth — Kelly Leonard explains how improv techniques can benefit the business world. From fostering better communication to generating better ideas, improv can help to build teams capable of rising to any challenge.

Leonard gives useful advice and practical exercises on how to get the most out of a meeting, what kind of environment should be created at a workplace, and how to build trustworthy and respectful relationships inside the team to improve collaboration and get better ideas.

Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Kelly Leonard and helps put together a book list for further reading.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, click here. Read the transcript of the interview here.

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code yesand.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nothing hurts worse than heartbreak. Whether it’s the painful end of relationship or the passing away of a beloved pet, grief and emotional suffering can quickly become all-consuming. And that’s where we blame ourselves and feel guilty for our inability to overcome emotional pain fast enough. Moreover, as psychologist Guy Winch shows, when going through a breakup, it’s not just our mental health that suffers, but our bodies too.

In this episode of Simplify, Winch reveals what happens in our brain when we’re experiencing a romantic heartbreak or a loss of a pet and offers warm and wise advice for all the broken-hearted.

Listen to this episode to find out the reasons why you should stop stalking your ex on social media and why you should not necessarily wait to jump into another relationship after a breakup.

Stick around after the interview to hear Terence Mickey join Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Guy Winch as well as the book list they put together for the episode.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Terence at @terence_mickey.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code heart.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you consider yourself a night owl or are you a morning person? Regardless of whether you love mornings or not, we all want to make best of them. Everybody has those few things––that certain morning ritual––that if they don't do it, their whole day is ruined. But what’s the best way to start your day off right?

Benjamin Spall and his co-author, Michael Xander, have spent five years studying morning routines of today’s most successful innovators, entrepreneurs, writers and artists to find out how they developed a morning regimen that sets them up for the day ahead in the best possible way. Based on his research and numerous interviews, Spall describes the best ways to introduce new rituals into your morning routine––consequently turning it into a habit––and gives recommendations on how to craft a morning routine that suits your needs.

Tune into this episode to peek into the morning routines of talented creatives and successful people, and find out what kind of morning is most likely to boost your productivity and happiness.

Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Benjamin Spall and helps put together a book list for further reading.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code oatmeal.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How much of your life do you spend pleasing those around you? Maybe it’s time to be honest with yourself, invest time in the things that really matter, and start weeding out unnecessary obligations to people you don’t really like. But how exactly are you supposed to do that?

In this episode of Simplify, Sarah Knight will help you start a process of mental decluttering and show you how to develop your personal “fck budget”, i.e. the amount of fcks you are prepared to dispense on any given day. Use it as a filter to make sure you’re spending your time, energy, and money on the things that actually matter to you.

Listen to this episode if you want to have more confidence in asking for what you want in life, and learn how to get it without feeling guilty or worrying about what others think.

Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Sarah Knight and helps put together a book list for further reading.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code budget.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We all like to buy stuff. Endless ads screaming “sale,” “discount," and “free” trick us into believing that we want things that we don’t actually need. In an age of credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, and Apple pay, it has become incredibly easy to spend our hard-earned sheckles and tough to save them.

In this episode of Simplify, behavioral economist and cognitive psychologist Dan Ariely explains what’s behind our irrational behavior in financial decision making and teaches us how we can get better at managing our finances. Based on extensive research and numerous global studies, Dan shows what exactly matters in personal economics and offers ideas toward better ways to save.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code broccoli.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the first episode of Season 4, Caitlin talks with Cheryl Strayed about how tending to humanity’s toughest quandaries has become her calling, and the three central questions that keep us all up at night.

Through years of listening deeply and sensitively to others’ experiences as well as her own, Strayed has unlocked what makes a good advice-giver and friend: sincerity, listening without judging, and connection. This—paired with her straight-shooting style—is why thousands of people have trusted Sugar with their deepest secrets. In all of her work, from memoir to advice to fiction, she teaches us all to listen deeply to our own inner voices for the truth we already know.

Get comfortable and tune into this episode with Cheryl Strayed to ponder how to move on after a deep loss or a heartbreak and reflect on the three major questions people struggle with throughout their lives.

Stick around after the interview for when Ben Schuman-Stoler joins Caitlin Schiller to talk about the main takeaways from the conversation with Cheryl Strayed and helps put together a book list for further reading on how to better communicate your needs and listen to your inner voice.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode, go to

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just give us some book recommendations on Twitter—we’d love to hear from you! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller and Ben at @bsto.

Try Blinkist for free for 14 days by going to https://www.blinkist.com/en/nc/friends/ and typing in the code sugar.

That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Simplify season 4 launches on August 23rd with an episode featuring bestselling author, memoirist, and internet legend, Cheryl Strayed. This first episode is one of our favorites yet, but as you'll hear in the trailer, there's much more to come. If you want to say hi to Ben and Caitlin before the season really kicks into gear, you can find them on Twitter: @bsto and @CaitlinSchiller.

See you next week!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.