The Jordan Harbinger Show

Facing a shortened life, Tom Rath raced to check every box — then hit 40 and asked: "What's the point?" Here's how to make your hours matter.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1401
What We Discuss with Tom Rath:
How a diagnosis at 15 — and an average lifespan of about 37 for people with his condition — sent Tom Rath racing to check every box, only to reach 40 and realize the boxes weren't his. Sometimes achievement is just existential panic wearing a suit.
Why career choice is less free will than inheritance: most of us glimpse five to 10 percent of the jobs out there, and a kid whose dad hangs drywall is 136 times likelier to follow suit. Tom half-jokes that random job assignment might beat our hit rate.
Why "follow your passion" is cotton candy advice — and "Let them eat cake" for anyone living paycheck to paycheck. Passion asks what you want; purpose asks who you help, and it's built daily, one rescued frazzled customer at a time, not found once a decade.
How spending 80 percent of the day reacting to email, feeds, and stock tickers feels productive but builds nothing durable — and why anyone who merely processes tasks may be one AI point release away from automation.
How asking "What's the point?" of every hour can reclaim your calendar. Guard at least 60 meaningful minutes a day, work in focused initiating blocks, and push email to later. No headstone brags about quarterly revenue, so spend today on what gets carved there.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Hostinger: 10% off: hostinger.com/jordan, code JORDAN
Oats Overnight: 25% off first box + free shaker: oatsovernight.com
Wayfair: Start renovating: wayfair.com
SimpliSafe Home Security: 60% off: simplisafe.com/jordan
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Leslie John explains why oversharing is underrated, how opening up builds trust faster than waiting for it, and where candor tips into TMI.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1400
What We Discuss with Dr. Leslie John:
Why waiting to feel trusted before opening up gets things backward — a slightly edgy reveal is a social risk that signals trust, and trust begets trust (a lever CIA recruiters and con artists both know how to pull).
How two people in love lost 20 years to the fear of saying the wrong thing, and why we tally the risks of revealing but rarely the cost of silence (the first “I love you” is returned about 80% of the time).
What Miss USA’s ravenous pageant answer, an onstage bladder mishap, and a sassy Harvard job interview reveal about the sweet spot between TMI and its overlooked twin, TLI (too little information), and the respect hiding behind the cringe.
How to tell genuine, gradually escalating intimacy from love bombing and catfishing, why you need a full competence bank account before making vulnerability withdrawals at work, and why transparency is the safer bet.
How to build the revealing muscle with sincere, specific compliments (and less gossip), and why the cure for a disclosure hangover is usually to lean back in and check with the person — not retreat into a catastrophic replay.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
The Cybersecurity Tapes: Listen here: thecybersecuritytapes.com
AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for $0: att.com/iphone or visit an AT&T store for details
BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan
Hims Weightloss: Get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you: hims.com/harbinger
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Innocent until proven broke? On Skeptical Sunday, Jessica Wynn explains how cash bail jails half a million unconvicted Americans.
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Jessica Wynn!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1399
On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss:
How roughly 500,000 legally innocent Americans sit in jail awaiting trial on any given day — not because they're dangerous, but because cash bail sorts people by bank balance rather than by risk, and only the US and the Philippines rent out freedom via commercial bail bonds.
Why bail reform became political kryptonite: crime rose during COVID just as reforms rolled out, so Utah (after five months!) and Alaska scrapped theirs before the data arrived, while a $2-billion-a-year bail bond industry lobbied hard to keep freedom behind a paywall.
What happens when reform survives on paper but not in practice: judges swap unaffordable bail for no-bail holds, ankle monitors widen the net, and risk algorithms trained on biased data launder old prejudices into objective-looking scores.
How pretrial detention powers the plea bargain machine — with about 95 percent of cases ending in pleas, people held before trial are four times likelier to be sentenced to jail and get sentences three times longer, even controlling for charges and history.
What actually works: Washington, D.C. has run without cash bail since 1992, releasing about 90 percent of arrestees (88 percent show up for court), while simple text reminders cut missed court dates 26 percent in NYC — proof that a nudge often beats a threat.
Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know!
Connect with Jessica Wynn at Instagram (and Instagram!), and subscribe to her newsletters: Between the Lines and Where the Shadows Linger!
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Xero: Find out more: xero.com
The Cybersecurity Tapes: Listen here: thecybersecuritytapes.com
AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for $0: att.com/iphone or visit an AT&T store for details
Progressive Insurance: Free online quote: progressive.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since episode 1287, exhaustion has turned to regret and your church has shut you out. Can you forgive yourself, or will shame win? It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1398
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
Months after ending a pregnancy just hours before a test confirmed your son was healthy, you're back with more of the story (from episode 1287) — the sleepless night that preceded it, a church group that quietly ghosted you, IVF on the horizon, and anger at yourself that won't let up. Where does healing even begin?
Six months into dating a man 15 years your senior — everything you've ever asked for in a partner — you're happy, yet around his wildly accomplished friends, you can't shake the sense you've wandered into the wrong league. Should you study up on his world, or is the pedestal itself the problem?
You ended a four-year friendship after learning he'd hidden his dating life and secretly loved you all along — convinced you were somehow "in on it." Now you want close male friends without the guesswork. How do you draw that line without sounding conceited, or presuming every guy is smitten?
Recommendation of the Week: Resistance Bands — Jordan's road-warrior answer to living without dumbbells: featherweight elastic loops that turn a hotel-room mat routine into shoulder presses, squats, and crunches with real bite. Could a $10 set be the gym that fits in your carry-on?
A few weeks back (on episode , you heard Jordan and Gabe counsel a man who believes he's a pedophile but has never acted on it — and you, like a vocal handful on the subreddit, felt they got it fundamentally wrong. Why give him airtime at all? Was that segment platforming, or prevention, and who has the stronger case?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for $0: att.com/iphone or visit an AT&T store for details
HomeServe: Find the plan that's right for you: homeserve.com
Progressive Insurance: Free online quote: progressive.com
AG1: Welcome kit: drinkag1.com/jordan
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former FBI hostage negotiator Kyle Vowinkel explains how to think clearly under fire, check your ego, and make hard calls before the heat of the moment.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1397
What We Discuss with Kyle Vowinkel:
Words prevail where weapons fail. After gunfire and 12 flashbangs, Kyle reached the Boston bomber through preparation. An hour with the bomber's wrestling coach gave him a nickname and a shared bond, and "I know who you are, Jahar" and "finish the match" got him out of the boat.
Under stress, emotion, and rationality sit on a teeter-totter — when one rises, the other falls. One trainee negotiator kept confirming a pizza order while his mock hijacker shot hostages. Tunnel vision is real, and even a five-second tactical pause to breathe and reset restores judgment.
Ego is the enemy of the team. Kyle was passed over at his first HRT tryout for questioning an instructor and betting a paycheck on a shooting rematch. Good leaders speak last, push credit down, and act as an umbrella — closed when praise shines, open when blame pours down.
Rapport is fragile and inputs must be verified. In the Alabama bunker, five days of trust vanished when the captor spotted a rifle barrel, a misheard medication request cost a day, and unchecked cables stalled the assault. Triggers set in advance are what finally saved Ethan.
The takeaways: make hard decisions before the heat of the moment, while rationality is high. Set clear triggers in advance, take a timeout when tempers flare, and anchor confidence in real past wins: "I've done this before. I can do this." No wins yet? Start small and build up.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Orion: 15% off: orionsleep.com/jordan
SimpliSafe Home Security: 60% off: simplisafe.com/jordan
Whatnot: Start selling today: whatnot.com/sell
Xero: Find out more: xero.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.