What does it take to finally stop wearing masks and start living authentically? Executive coach Ruth Pearce shares her spectacular burnout story—and the philosophy of hope, strength, bravery, and curiosity that emerged from it. From trying on different identities in our 20s and 30s to the unmasking that happens around 40, we explore how we learn who we really are.

Suneet Bhatt—executive coach, Rutgers professor, and former corporate leader—spent 25 years climbing the ladder before realizing he was on the wrong wall. Now he helps everyone from high schoolers to retirees answer the question "Why am I here?" We explore why following the playbook leaves so many unfulfilled, his frameworks for building self-awareness, and what it actually takes to find purpose in a world that tells us to keep moving faster.

Social media, political tribalism, and clickbait culture are reshaping our democracy—and what we can do about it. From chocolate cake metaphors to deep debates on free speech, capitalism, and civic life, Chirag and Sunay explore why civil discourse feels broken, and how long-form conversations (like this one) might just be the antidote.

Welcome to Rapid Riffs, a recurring mini-series of Question Everything (Except This Podcast!) where Sunay and Chirag swap links, pick the juiciest ones, and riff.

This week Sunay and Chirag riff on four hits from their link-exchange: Scott Galloway’s take on friendship and the loneliness crisis among men; the Alpha School in Austin and whether AI can compress learning into two-hour days; Kyla Scanlon’s argument about zero-sum thinking in today’s labor market; and Cal Newport’s riff on the “reverse Flynn effect” and why reading and deep work still matter. Expect empathy, skepticism, and a few practical takeaways.

In this conversation, Sunay and Chirag discuss insights from the AI4 conference, focusing on the contrasting perspectives of keynotes by Dr. Fei-Fei Li and Dr. Jeffrey Hinton regarding the future of AI. They explore the implications of AI agents in the workforce, the complexities of societal systems, and the need for responsible AI development. The discussion also touches on the nostalgia for analog experiences in a tech-driven world and the paradox of productivity in the age of AI.

In this episode, we unpack Mountainhead — a sharp satire about tech billionaires, buzzwords, and just how far we’ll justify progress when guardrails disappear. From net worth contests on snowy peaks to AI’s breakneck pace, we ask: can we keep our humanity when the race to build never slows down? With a nod to Reid Hoffman’s Super Agency and a detour through The Lord of the Rings, we wonder if the answer is simpler than we think — maybe the secret to surviving the AI age is to stay a little more like hobbits in the Shire: grounded, connected, and a lot less impressed by our own power.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, really? In this episode, we dive into the mystery behind the elusive creator of Bitcoin — spurred by HBO’s provocative documentary Money Electric. Chirag and Sunay explore the origins of cryptocurrency, its utopian promise, and its ethical quandaries, while unpacking what decentralization really means and where digital currencies might take us next. Is crypto the future of finance… or just the latest digital tulip bubble?

As technology reshapes education, what happens to the human side of learning? In this episode, Rachel Guerrero shares her journey through the quiet challenges of teaching today — and why preserving empathy, connection, and character in the classroom is the true work of education’s future.