Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show)

Epizode

• 
  When You Know You're Alone You Make Different Decisions with Margret Glaspy 16.09.2026 13min

  Margaret Glaspy is a New York-based singer/songwriter. Her newest album, I Am Both, is essential. She might be coming to a town near you. --- ⁠⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free.⁠ What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. A feed drop with That Aged Well! 09.09.2026 2h 9min

  I love Zoolander so much. If you do too, you're gonna love today's episode which comes from the podcast That Aged Well. Come join hosts Erika and Paul as they re-experience this wild ride of a movie, filled with male models, assassins, and, of course, orange mocha frappuccinos! More about the show: Feel conflicted about the movies you loved as a kid? Paul and Erika guide you through all that beloved garbage we watched...after all, nostalgia is more fun when you aren't the only one embarrassed by it. Come dive into yesterday's pop culture today.  An 80s kid? A 90s kid? A horror aficionado? A musical singalonger? That Aged Well has got a little something for all on their website.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  We Should Strategically Half-Ass Way More Things (or May The Bogan Be With You) with Steve Kamb 02.09.2026 13min

  Steve Kamb is the founder of  Nerd Fitness and the author of HOW TO TRY AGAIN.  The book he referances is... Start Ugly: The Unexpected Path to Everyday Creativity by David duChemin -- This episode's archival cousin: Aiming at Meh with Brian Selfon -- What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  You Can't Make Anyone Love You + Yet Another Shenanigan! 26.08.2026 10min

  Listener Clio called the Weirdly Helpline with her shenanigan and you should too @ 844-935-2378. Piper at the Gates of Dawn! | The Wind in the Willows | Full Episode -- Jan Worth-Nelson and Ted Nelson are writers  and editors from Flint, MI. More about Sheldon Kopp's, An Eschatological Laundry List. -- ⁠⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free.⁠ ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Art of Shenanigans with Rebecca Garza-Bortman and a Legion of Weird Helpers 20.08.2026 25min

  Rebecca Garza-Bortman is a designer, musician, writer, & mother living in Berkeley. This episode features WH listeners Julia, Lauren, Erica, Meredith, another Lauren, Katie and Mike. I never want to stop hearing your shenanigans. Call the Weird Helpline @ 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. ⁠⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE IS ALIVE!⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  This is A Tangible Way to Fake It Till You Make It with Evangeline Garreau 19.08.2026 10min

  Evangeline Garreau is a queer ADHD gemini and a creative project coach who accompanies artists of all kinds on their creative journeys, helping them get unstuck and put in the work to bring their visions into reality. Check out her newslettter, Belly Spark. It's so good. You can work with her too! What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The World Is a Laboratory of Story Ideas with Mallary Tenore Tarpley 05.08.2026 15min

  Mallary Tenore Tarpley is the award-winning author of SLIP and an assistant professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and the McCombs School of Business, where she teaches journalism and writing. This episode was inspired by Mallary's recent piece, Embracing the lost art of people-watching published in Neiman Storyboard. If you liked this episode you'll also like God is in the Details or Why Listening to Strangers on the Train is Fantastic Raw Material for your Storytelling with Craig Finn from The Hold Steady. ---  What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  A Weirdly Helpful Travel Guide 29.07.2026 13min

  Annie Sim is the CEO (Chief Eating Officer) of The Table Less Traveled Evan Stern is the host of Vanishing Postcards --- Help Zak continue making this show by becoming a Best Advice Show Patron @ https://www.patreon.com/weirdlyhelpful Call Zak on the hotline @ 844-935-2378 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  A Weirdly Helpful View From Behind the Supermarket Register 22.07.2026 15min

  Ann Larson is the author of Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register. Her writing on education, debt, and low-wage work has appeared in The New Republic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Fast Company, and The Nation, among other publications. She is coauthor of Can’t Pay Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition and is a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.  --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Why Do We Say "Um" So Much? with Dr. ⁠Steven D. Cohen⁠ 15.07.2026 16min

  Steven D. Cohen is an award-winning professor, author, and coach who empowers you and your team to communicate with influence, inspire your audience, and achieve your leadership potential. Express yourself better with Toastmasters --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful and/or what shenanigan do you practice!? Call me and tell me all abou it @ 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Give All Your Attention To Whatever Is Annoying You with Sharon Mashihi 08.07.2026 16min

  Sharon Mashihi is the creator of the serialized audio mindtrip Appearances. Her new project is available on Audible and called 30 Days To Rediscover Your Creativity . If you like today's episode you might like this one about creative appetizers and procrastination. Sharon was last on the show talking about structured walking. --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  I Madly Love Anything That Breaks the Thread of Discursive Thought /// Surrealist Games with Laura Hawley 01.07.2026 12min

  Zak's Weirdly Helpful guru, Laura Hawley, returns to play some surrealist games. She was last on the show talking about inventing play. A Book of Surrealist Games --- Come to How to Cut the Cheese: A WH Live Show! What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  How to Savor Your Summer Trip 24.06.2026 12min

  Featured on today's show was... -Treat Yourself to Better Car Snacks with Ethan Frisch -Viscerally Remember Your Past Vacations with Tad Davis --- Join me for HOW TO CUT THE CHEESE, a Weirdly Helpful Live Experiment on 7/29 in Berkley, Michigan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Get Your Tickets for Weirdly Helpful Live on July 29th in Berkley, Michigan! 19.06.2026 1min

  I want you to be the first to know about WEIRDLY HELPFUL live this summer on 7/29. It's a live show/dinner party and we're calling it...HOW TO CUT THE CHEESE. It's actually a dinner party ABOUT dinner parties and tickets are available HERE. How to Cut the Cheese is part food show, part podcast performance, part public service you'll partake in while enjoying an incredible 4-course meal at The Rind, which the Detroit Free Press named #3 on their list of the Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences in 2024 "for its casual approach to upscale dining and its commitment to supporting Michigan's local food economy." --- https://mongersprovisions.com/products/weirdly-helpful-and-audace-creative-present-super-club-the-rind --- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Two Prospective Parents Wander in the Desert, Debating the Future 17.06.2026 19min

  Today, in honor of Father's Day, a pod blast from the pod past...episode 1 of Pregnant Pause with Zak and Shira Meantime, send me your shenanigans at 844-935-2378! SHOP ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Try This Delightful Dinner Party Maneuver with Dan Heath 10.06.2026 17min

  Dan Heath hosts ⁠What It’s Like to Be…⁠ In every episode, he interviews someone from a different profession: a mystery novelist, a couples therapist, a rancher, and more. He's also the #1 New York Times bestselling author (or co-author) of six beloved business books, including Switch, Made to Stick, and The Power of Moments. --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful and/or what shenanigans do you practice at home? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Why Asking Weirder Questions is an Exercise in Accessing Dignity with Megan Saxelby 03.06.2026 14min

  Megan Saxelby is an early adolescent parent coach and founder of Wild Feelings. Jesse Thorn hosts Bullseye and The Turnaround. --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠ ⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. ⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  How To Make Friends and Find Your People 27.05.2026 20min

  Rabbi Alana Alpert advocates for bubbe adoption and spiritual engagement in Detroit. ADOPT A GRANDPARENT! Elizabeth Newcamp writes at Dutch Dutch Goose and Best Moms Friends Forever. -- ⁠Support the show and listen to Weirdly Helpful without ads by becoming a Patron today!⁠ -- Thanks to Rula for supporting today's show. Learn more @ https://www.rula.com/weirdlyhelpful Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Visit the Most Primal, Teenage Part of Yourself with Maggie Lyons 20.05.2026 14min

  Maggie Lyons is a creative producer living in LA. Read her essay The Comfort Playlist of Teenage Faves™️. Listen to her nostalgia playlist here. Aaron's advice originally aired back in 2022. -- Support the show and listen to Weirdly Helpful without ads by becoming a Patron today! -- Thanks to Rula for supporting today's show. Learn more @ https://www.rula.com/weirdlyhelpful Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Bless the Phone with Ross Simonini 13.05.2026 20min

  Ross Simonini is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. Read his essays Bless The Phone here and Through the Fire here. Check out his essential interviews with so many modern masters at The Believer! Noa on using our phone less. Dapne on using our phone less. Rabbi Yoni on the bathroom blessing. -- BECOME A WEIRD HELPER AND LISTEN TO THE SHOW AD-FREE! GET YOUR WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH HERE! -- Ross has held solo presentations of his work at the Sharjah Biennial (UAE), Francois Ghebaly (NYC), anonymous gallery (NYC), Et Al (SF), SHRINE (LA), suns.works (Zurich), Shoot the Lobster (LU), and Human Resources (LA).  ​His novel, The Book of Formation (2018, Melville House) chronicles the rise of a fictional philosophical movement. His essays appear in the New York Times, McSweeneys, ArtReview and The Paris Review. ​​He releases music under his own name and has released music as a member of the bands, NewVillager and Trespassers William. He has performed at Performa, Andy Warhol Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum.  ​​​As a professor, he has taught seminars on experimental process, writing, art, sound, and dialogue at Columbia University, CA College of the Arts, and UCLA. He served as an editor at The Believer for a decade and has created audio programs for SFMOMA, KCRW, and ArtReview. ​​He ran ALICIA, a gallery & performance space on his property in Altadena before the fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices