The 30 Most Popular Episodes of The Tim Ferriss Show from 2021

The Tim Ferriss Show crossed 700 million downloads this year, and it’s fast approaching 800 million. Doing the podcast has been one of my emotional life rafts and saving graces amidst the madness of 2021, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening. 

In case you want to dig in, perhaps after a pumpkin pie or cookie coma, below are the most popular episodes of the year. You can spot some trends.

We used an imperfect methodology—number of downloads one week after publication—but it’s good enough to surface episodes that got people really excited and that quickly spread via word of mouth.

2022 is going to be very big. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your audio morsels.

Happy holidays to you and yours!  

With sincerest thanks, 

Tim

Below is the list, in descending order of downloads (i.e., #1 had the most downloads one week after publication):

#1: Balaji Srinivasan on Centralized China vs Decentralized World, The DeFi Matrix, Ascending vs Descending Trends, Bitcoin Mining as Energy Storage, Reputational Civil War, and Maximalism vs. Optimalism (Episode #547)

#2: Balaji Srinivasan on The Future of Bitcoin and Ethereum, How to Become Noncancelable, the Path to Personal Freedom and Wealth in a New World, the Changing Landscape of Warfare, and More (Episode #506)

#3: Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTs (Episode #542)

#4: Dr. Andrew Huberman — A Neurobiologist on Optimizing Sleep, Enhancing Performance, Reducing Anxiety, Increasing Testosterone, and Using the Body to Control the Mind (Episode #521)

#5: Vitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum, on Understanding Ethereum, ETH vs. BTC, ETH2, Scaling Plans and Timelines, NFTs, Future Considerations, Life Extension, and More (Featuring Naval Ravikant) (Episode #504)

#6: Dr. Peter Attia on Longevity Drugs, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the 3 Most Important Levers to Pull (Episode #517)

#7: Katie Haun on the Dark Web, Gangs, Investigating Bitcoin, and the New Magic of “Nifties” (NFTs) (Episode #499)

#8: Jordan Peterson on Rules for Life, Psychedelics, The Bible, and Much More (Episode #502)

#9: The Random Show — Life-Extension Misadventures, Blockchain/Crypto Investing, NFT Experiments, Dogecoin, Zen Buddhism, and Weathering Sharp Elbows (Episode #527)

#10: The Random Show — Bitcoin Pros and Cons, 2021 Resolutions, Fave Books, Lucid Dreaming, Couples Therapy, and More (Episode #493)

#11: Greg McKeown — The Art of Effortless Results, How to Take the Lighter Path, the Joys of Simplicity, and More (Episode #510)

#12: Iconic Therapist Dr. Sue Johnson — How to Improve Sex and Crack the Code of Love (Episode #529)

#13: Harvard Polymath Noah Feldman — Deep Focus for Hyper-Productivity, Learning 10+ Languages, Predicting the Future with History, the Possibilities (and Limitations) of DAOs, Lessons from the Iraq Invasion, Designing the Supreme Court of Facebook, the Virtue of Scholarship, and the Wild Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (Episode #540)

#14: Sheila Heen of The Harvard Negotiation Project — How to Navigate Hard Conversations, the Subtle Art of Apologizing, and a Powerful 60-Day Challenge (Episode #532)

#15: Chip Wilson — Building Lululemon, the Art of Setting Goals, and the 10 Great Decisions of Your Life (Episode #514)

#16: Diana Chapman — How to Get Unstuck, Do “The Work,” Take Radical Responsibility, and Reduce Drama in Your Life (Episode #536)

#17: Michael Pollan — This Is Your Mind on Plants (Episode #520)

#18: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett — Two Legends on Competing, Overcoming Adversity, Must-Read Books, and Much More (Episode #494)

#19: Marc Randolph on Building Netflix, Battling Blockbuster, Negotiating with Amazon/Bezos, and Scraping the Barnacles Off the Hull (Episode #496)

#20: Ramit Sethi — How to Play Offense with Money, Plan Bucket Lists, Build a Rich Life with Your Partner, and Take a Powerful $100 Challenge (Episode #524)

#21: Dr. Stefi Cohen — 25 World Records, Power Training, Deadlifting 4.4x Bodyweight, Sports Psychology, Overcoming Pain, and More (Episode #491)

#22: The Random Show — Biohacking, Tim’s COVID Experience, Holiday Gift Ideas, Favorite New Apps, Bad Science, Quarantine Delights, and a Small Dose of NFTs and DAOs (Episode #549)

#23: Steven Pressfield — How to Overcome Self-Sabotage and Resistance, Routines for Little Successes, and The Hero’s Journey vs. The Artist’s Journey (Episode #501)

#24: Henry Shukman — Zen, Tools for Awakening, Ayahuasca vs. Meditation, Intro to Koans, and Using Wounds as the Doorway (Episode #531)

#25: Anne Lamott on Taming Your Inner Critic, Finding Grace, and Prayer (Episode #522)

#26: Richard Schwartz — IFS, Psychedelic Experiences without Drugs, and Finding Inner Peace for Our Many Parts (Episode #492)

#27: Paul Conti, MD — How Trauma Works and How to Heal from It (Episode #533)

#28: George Mumford, Mindfulness Coach to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, on Awareness, Compassionate Action, The Dizziness of Freedom, and More (Episode #509)

#29: David Rubenstein, Co-Founder of The Carlyle Group, on Lessons Learned, Jeff Bezos, Raising Billions of Dollars, Advising Presidents, and Sprinting to the End (Episode #495)

#30: Chris Bosh on How to Reinvent Yourself, The Way and The Power, the Poison of Complaining, Leonardo da Vinci, and More (Episode #515)

P.S. In case you missed it, transcripts for all episodes are available for free at this link, and you can find vetted podcast sponsors at this link.

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The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.