What if the handshake is a dominance ritual and the hug is the antidote? Joel breaks down the energetics, mechanics, and cultural context of giving truly great hugs in 15 surprisingly nuanced tips. From the five-second rule to the one last squeeze, this episode might just change how you wrap your arms around the world.

What if there are no objective truths, no real rules, and the most radical thing you can do is just stay open? Ryan Nicodemus joins Joel for a deeply personal conversation to explore forgiveness, the concept of formlessness, why everyone is doing the best they can, fear versus love, and why emotions – unlike apples – multiply when you give them away.

You're about to Learn:

• What happens when a "Do Epic Shit" yields to "Be Beautifully Boring."
• What thriving can look like in life’s liminal seasons.
• What to do about creative constipation and its relationship to seasonal productivity.
• Why ordinary, un-Instagrammable moments can be the most beautiful.
• How to hold both gratitude and global chaos at the same time … without denying either.
• How good of a Snarf impression I can do.

Imagine an unpredictable audio porch where I sling stories, facilitate connections, and whip up experiments to help you make friends with people, possibilities, and ideas. That's the lovely promise with Surprise Me, Joel.

I'll teach you nifty stuff like how to bring people together, think differently about everyday life … and probably restore some faith in humanity in the process. We'll get unconventional so you can focus on what's most important and have useful things like abundant gratitude.

Consider the show a curiosity club for doers and dreamers. Expect short sparks, long thoughts, and strange delights. Oh, and a healthy dose of practices you can run in your street, car seat, or spreadsheet.

Explore more and subscribe at joelzaslofsky.com/smj.