Sobriety isn't just "not drinking"—it's learning how to live without needing relief on demand. In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with therapist Ryan Soave (18+ years sober) for a sweeping conversation on why addiction often acts like a solution to deeper pain, how fear and shame quietly run the show, and what it takes to break the compulsion loop for good.

They dig into habit change that actually sticks, how to rebuild identity and community, and practical ways to regulate your nervous system so you don't have to numb yourself.

Ryan Soave is a licensed mental health counselor, transformational coach, and person in long-term recovery. He has spent nearly twenty years and over ten thousand clinical hours working with people navigating trauma, addiction, and the survival patterns that quietly run their lives. His approach brings together modern neuroscience, body-based therapies, and ancient wisdom traditions, all built around one idea: most of us confuse discomfort with threat and spend our lives reacting to things that aren't actually dangerous. Learning to feel bad is the first real step toward living well. Ryan has sat on both sides of the therapeutic relationship, which shapes everything about how he works.

To go deeper with Ryan or learn more about his work:

Website: ryansoave.com

Free course: Sign up for "How to Feel Bad (and Love Your Life)" at ryansoave.com

Book a one-on-one consultation: ryansoave.com

Instagram: @Ryan.Soave

YouTube: @rjsoave

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dogs don’t just make us happy—they change how we live. Michael Easter talks with former Navy SEAL and writer Sam Alaimo about why dogs pull us back into the present, create purpose, and help us rebuild after our toughest moments.

Then researcher Dr. Nancy Gee (director of a human–animal interaction center) breaks down what the science actually says about how and why pet ownership contributes to our health and wellbeing.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Joey Fischground. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if everything you believe about freedom is wrong?

Author David Epstein joins Michael Easter to break down why constraints — not freedom — drive better work, better wellness, and better creativity. Epstein is the bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene, and his new book Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better argues we have it backwards on freedom.

They discuss why General Magic collapsed under unlimited possibility while Pixar dominated, why your brain is literally built to prevent you from thinking, and the simple sleep hack that made David a morning person for two years without an alarm clock.

This is the playbook for thinking slow, acting fast, and finally figuring out what to stop doing.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 3-year old beat a PhD engineer at an engineering problem while playing legos—and that single moment kicked off a decade of research that exposed one of the strongest, most underrated biases in the human brain: we almost never subtract.

This week, Michael sits down with Dr. Leidy Klotz — University of Virginia engineering professor, former pro soccer player, and author of Subtract, which explored why your brain defaults to adding when removing is the better answer.

His new book In a Good Place, unpacks why open offices steal your focus, the science of the “home field advantage” and why the spaces you live in might be quietly running your life (and even affecting your lifespan).

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 100,000 Americans die of drug overdose every year. The solution—or at least part of it—might be dorky as hell.

Sam Quinones spent 12 years reporting on America’s drug crisis and how — heroin, fentanyl, meth have reshaped the country. In this episode, l he unpacks how Mexican cartels replaced poppy fields with chemicals, lowered the price of meth by 90%, and unintentionally created a schizophrenia crisis. Since then, Sam has been on a mission to find the antidote to modern day addiction. And he found it in an unlikely source: the tuba. yes, the musical instrument. Sam explains why marching band may very well be the best anti-drug program in America and how we can help our children avoid a life of addiction and suffering.

Even if you have no interest in playing the tuba, the lessons from marching band can help anyone build a better life. This episode is about the value of hard work without fanfare, the power of community, and how to find hope in a broken world.

Sam is the author of Dreamland, The Least of Us, and his new book The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Bass Horn, Band, and Hard Work.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Joey Fischground. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is work supposed to feel this miserable? In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with two people who answer the question from opposite ends of the spectrum: one who found deep fulfillment inside the system, and one who walked away from it entirely.

First, Dr. Mim Ari, an internist and associate professor at the University of Chicago, breaks down what it actually means to be a "deeply fulfilled workist." She explains why we anchor on the negatives, the 10:1 positive ratio that should reframe your day, how AI scribes are quietly changing medicine, and why intrinsic motivation beats external validation every time.

Then, Robin Greenfield, who once aimed to be a millionaire by 30, talks about why he gave it all up. He shares the moment he realized the American Dream was "the world's nightmare," his 100-change checklist for breaking free of consumerism, what it was like to walk NYC in a 135-pound trash suit, and the three months he spent owning literally nothing in Griffith Park.

Michael closes with the very first 2% AMA, including the one phone hack that has saved his work-life balance, the truth about exercise recovery, an update to The Comfort Crisis on autophagy, and the inaugural "Department of Dipshit Questions."

Robin’s 100-step guide to living happier: https://www.robingreenfield.org/100

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone has a vice. Drinking, smoking, social media, diet soda. And the modern wellness internet will tell you that if you want to live a long, healthy life, you need to cut every single one of them out. But is that actually true?

In this episode of Two Percent, we take a nuanced look at vices and whether some of them might actually enhance your life when you use them the right way. We don't have to live like monks to live a good life.

First up is Dean Stattmann, a GQ reporter who spent three months sober and wrote a now-viral piece titled "Why My 2026 Resolution Is to Start Drinking Again." His Whoop scores got better, but his friendships, his marriage, and his mood got worse. Dean explains what alcohol actually does for human connection, what anthropologists call "costly signaling," and why moderate drinking might not be the villain the internet has made it out to be.

Then Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online and host of the Power User podcast, joins to argue something that sounds heretical in 2026: social media is not addictive. We break down the real science on dopamine (spoiler: it's probably cortisol), the recent California Meta verdict, Section 230, KOSA, looksmaxing, Clavicular's overdose, and what's actually driving the teen mental health conversation.

Finally, Michael opens up about his own personal vice, a five-a-day habit, and explains why the science on aspartame, cancer, and the gut microbiome isn't nearly as scary as the internet would have you believe.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

Substack Post from Dr. Vinay Prasad: https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/alcohol-good-or-bad-why-reductionist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melissa Urban — founder of Whole 30 and author of The Whole30 (updated 2024) and The Book of Boundaries — sits down with Michael Easter for one of the most honest conversations on this feed yet. Two sober people (Michael 10+ years, Melissa 24+ years) unpack the parallels between drug addiction and food behavior, why the first time Melissa went to rehab didn't stick, and the single question that rewired every habit in her life: "What would a healthy person with healthy habits do?"

They dig into the science of elimination diets, the 17 years of data behind Whole 30, why Melissa publicly reversed her position on seed oils in 2024, how food becomes the fastest socially acceptable distraction from our feelings, and why you can white-knuckle any elimination program and end up exactly where you started. Plus: integrity over followers, mountains as church, and why "does this feel gross?" is the best business rubric Melissa's ever used.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. Our editor is Ryan Mulhern. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.