When did you last learn to do something totally and utterly new? Tom Vanderbilt, author of Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, was awestruck by his young daughter’s insatiable need to know how to do almost everything. He was inspired by her to embark on a year of learning purely for its own sake.

Tom had a truly unique year - a circuitous journey of learning, in which he attempted to learn chess, singing, surfing, drawing and juggling. These skills were chosen on the basis of difficulty and lack of marketability.

Tom found that his new sense of curiosity opened him up to a profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him. By reinventing himself in small ways, life began to seem more magical.

In this classic episode Andrew and Tom talk about just why it is that so many of us stop learning new skills as adults. While we’re encouraging our children to be adventurous and to try new things, are we ourselves afraid of failure? Have we forgotten the pleasure and rewards of starting from scratch?

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Three Things Tom Vanderbilt knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin https://andrewgmarshall.com/mens-retreat/

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/

Learn more about Tom Vanderbilt’s book Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning

Follow Tom Vanderbilt on Instagram @tomvanderbilt

Andrew and Tom also discuss Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

In a world that often rewards toughness and detachment, could empathy actually be a hidden superpower?

This week, Andrew speaks with psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Judith Orloff about how empathy can become one of the most powerful tools for healing, personal growth and connection.

Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and energy medicine, Judith explains how anyone can deepen their empathic abilities, protect themselves from burnout, and create stronger, more authentic relationships.

Andrew and Judith discuss:

⭐ What it really means to be an empath (and how to tell if you are one) ⭐ Strategies to prevent empathy overload ⭐ The importance of boundaries for empaths.

Dr. Judith Orloff is the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Empathy and The Empath’s Survival Guide. Her upcoming children’s book The Highly Sensitive Rabbit, helps sensitive kids embrace their empathic gifts as a strength. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath and intuitive healer, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty.

If You’re Looking for More…

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: Join here.

This week, supporters will hear:

⭐ What is Healthy Giving? ⭐ Three things Judith Orloff knows to be true ⭐️AND access to all our previous bonus content—a rich archive of insight and inspiration

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin.

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Read The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World by Judith Orloff.

Preorder Judith Orloff’s new book for children, The Highly Sensitive Rabbit

Visit Judith Orloff’s website: www.drjudithorloff.com

Follow Judith Orloff on social media:

• Instagram: @judith.orloff.md
• Facebook: @DrJudithOrloff
• Twitter/X: @JudithOrloffMD

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Today, the “four pale horsemen” of war, famine, pestilence and death have broken into our comfortable lives once again.

As the climate emergency and shortage become normalised, how do we live through crisis after crisis without falling into fear and anxiety on the one hand, or agitated reaction and rage on the other?

Do we face the horsemen, go into denial or settle for the dull throb of numbness? And how do we maintain contact with the heart, with soul, with love and compassion?

In this week's classic episode, Andrew speaks with award-winning poet, author and teacher William Ayot about:

⭐️The burdens men carry

⭐️The healing power of ritual

⭐️Male loneliness and how men’s groups help

⭐️Confronting shame and anger

As well as his writing and poetry, William Ayot leads workshops and seminars on personal development topics and creates and conducts private rituals and ceremonies. William is also the co-founding director of Olivier Mythodrama and worked around the world for ten years, teaching leadership through story, theatre practice and ritual. He founded NaCOT- The National Centre for the Oral Tradition, and hosts the poetry series On the Border.

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Creating a daily ritual for a deeper connection to life.
• Three Things William Ayot knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Visit William Ayot’s website for information on bespoke rituals, poetry etc

Visit William Ayot and Juliet Grayson’s online library of poetry and talks on shame, men’s issues and relationships

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall