Speaker 1: Hey everyone. So Eric was recently a guest on the
Speaker 1: fantastic podcast called The Puzzler with AJ Jacobs. You may
Speaker 1: remember Aj because he's been on the one you Feed
Speaker 1: podcast as well. But it's so fun to listen to,
Speaker 1: so we decided to release an excerpt from it as
Speaker 1: a short bonus episode on our feed. They do talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about our parable, and then AJ made
Speaker 1: a bunch of puzzles that relate to our parable. So
Speaker 1: here's the mini episode from The Puzzler with Aj Jacobs.
Speaker 2: Hello, Puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler podcast, the Apple Cake
Speaker 2: and Your Puzzling Swanson's TV Dinner. I'm your host, AJ Jacobs,
Speaker 2: and I'm here with our guest, the awesome Eric Zimmer,
Speaker 2: host of the wonderful podcast right here on iHeart the
Speaker 2: one which I have been lucky enough to be a
Speaker 2: guest on.
Speaker 3: Welcome Eric, Hi Aj, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2: We are delighted. I love your show and I also
Speaker 2: love the way you start your show. You always start
Speaker 2: your podcast with the same parable, so would you mind
Speaker 2: telling it to us?
Speaker 4: Sure, it's an old parable. We don't really know where
Speaker 4: it comes from. Some people think it's a native American parable.
Speaker 4: Other people insist that's not true. I've been able to
Speaker 4: find no definitive scholarship, so we don't know where it
Speaker 4: comes from.
Speaker 3: But it goes like this.
Speaker 4: There's a grandparent who's talking with their grandchild and they say,
Speaker 4: in life, there are two wolves inside of us that
Speaker 4: are always at battle. One is a good wolf, which
Speaker 4: represents things like kindness and bravery and love, and the
Speaker 4: other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed
Speaker 4: and hatred and fear. And the grandchild stops think about
Speaker 4: it for a second. They look up at their grandparent
Speaker 4: and they say, well, which one wins? And the grandparent says,
Speaker 4: the one you feel.
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that for many reasons. First
Speaker 2: of all, I love it because the first time I
Speaker 2: heard it was from my son's rabbi when he was
Speaker 2: preparing for his bar Mitz book. But I also love
Speaker 2: it because it's such a good message and weirdly, and
Speaker 2: I don't think this is a stretch. I think that
Speaker 2: it's very relevant to puzzles.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you and I talked about that on our
Speaker 4: most recent conversation on my show. I think you've been
Speaker 4: on a couple times at this point and we were
Speaker 4: able to talk about the way that parable relates to
Speaker 4: puzzles last time.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, and for those you should go listen to that.
Speaker 2: But in my book on puzzles, I talk about the
Speaker 2: puzzler mindset, which is all about seeing the world as
Speaker 2: a series of puzzles instead of a series of problems.
Speaker 2: And I actually Quincy Jones, the great musician, he said
Speaker 2: his life philosophy is I don't have problems, I have puzzles.
Speaker 2: So reframing your problems, that's puzzles. Because problems are like
Speaker 2: the bad wolf to me. They're negative, they're they're intimidating,
Speaker 2: and puzzles are like the good wolf. They're sort of
Speaker 2: playful and experimental. So if you feed the good wolf
Speaker 2: of puzzles in your life, then you will have more
Speaker 2: curiosity and positivity than negativity and fear. So that's my
Speaker 2: pitch for why puzzles are not just fun but good
Speaker 2: for your psyche.
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 4: I think you just you saying that just made me
Speaker 4: think of a situation in my own life that I
Speaker 4: should try and or I don't don't know. If I
Speaker 4: say should I could try and reframe as a puzzle
Speaker 4: versus just a problem.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you I use it. I've been using
Speaker 2: it recently with people when I talk politics, because you know,
Speaker 2: my gut instinct is to try to argue with them
Speaker 2: and like bash them over the head with my correctness.
Speaker 2: But that's not going to work. That never works. So
Speaker 2: instead turn it into a puzzle. What do we really
Speaker 2: disagree about? Why do we disagree? What evidence is there
Speaker 2: that could convince me or her of a different way
Speaker 2: to look at it?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: And what do they you know, what are the series
Speaker 4: of experiences in their life that have caused them to
Speaker 4: come to that conclusion?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 4: You know, it's another aspect of the puzzle, like why
Speaker 4: are they why do they see the world this way?
Speaker 4: Because that also unlocks a lot of different things.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, I love talking psychology, but we've got an
Speaker 2: agenda here. We are a puzzle show, so we're going
Speaker 2: to move into the puzzle portion. Are you ready to
Speaker 2: play a quick puzzle?
Speaker 4: I am, I'm I'm not a great puzzle solver, so
Speaker 4: you know, I hope I do? Okay here, but yes,
Speaker 4: I am certainly ready.
Speaker 2: No, we like that first of all, everyone we believe
Speaker 2: everyone is a good puzzle solver. It's just you have
Speaker 2: to let it out. Wolf. The puzzle Wolves, Well, this
Speaker 2: puzzle we came up with is actually related to your
Speaker 2: wonderful show, which is about psychology and self improvement. So
Speaker 2: the idea for this puzzle is that your show is
Speaker 2: so good it needs some spinoffs. So we've come up
Speaker 2: with a bunch of ideas for spinoffs that happened to
Speaker 2: rhyme with your show, the one you feed. So you're
Speaker 2: gonna have to guess what is the spinoff. And I'm
Speaker 2: going to tell you a parable that's at the start
Speaker 2: of every show, and based on the parable, you are
Speaker 2: going to have to figure it out. So, for instance,
Speaker 2: if the parable is about two gardens, not wolves, but
Speaker 2: two gardens, and one of them has a nice, clean
Speaker 2: flower bed with no invasive plants, the title of that
Speaker 2: show might be the one you we'd weed exactly. Okay,
Speaker 2: you got it? So are you ready?
Speaker 3: I am ready, by the way.
Speaker 2: You got that very quickly. So I want to say
Speaker 2: you're underestimated yourself. Uh, this show starts with a parable
Speaker 2: about two books, and one of those books has better
Speaker 2: spelling and fewer typos, and that show is the one you.
Speaker 4: Well, if it's a better book. It's an AJ Jacobs book, right,
Speaker 4: we know that, we know that. So, but I'm pretty
Speaker 4: sure what you're aiming at there is the one you read.
Speaker 2: Yeah, or even more, the one you if you're looking
Speaker 2: for typos, the one you looking the one you pre
Speaker 2: proof read.
Speaker 4: Oh oh, you've got more multiple syllables in there. That's
Speaker 4: is that that legal?
Speaker 2: Well, we set the rules. I will say. First of all,
Speaker 2: you cannot do better than your first answer about my books.
Speaker 2: So you get not only a correct, you get like
Speaker 2: two points.
Speaker 5: All right?
Speaker 4: All right?
Speaker 2: How about if this show starts with a parable about
Speaker 2: two loads of bread, one is softer? The title of
Speaker 2: that show might be the one you need k exactly
Speaker 2: ad exactly. It's a little tricky with the K. I'm
Speaker 2: going to show what starts with a parable about two
Speaker 2: football teams and which one wins. You need someone to
Speaker 2: help you win on the sidelines. Well, the one you.
Speaker 3: All right, hang on, I don't need another hint. The
Speaker 3: one you cheerlead excellent.
Speaker 2: See now you're in the double syllables. You're fine with it.
Speaker 2: All right. Here's the one, maybe a little trickier. This
Speaker 2: parable is about a colonial doctor. I'm doing a book
Speaker 2: about the early America. So it's on my mind a
Speaker 2: colonial doctor and two of his patients, the one who
Speaker 2: has cured is the one who.
Speaker 4: You Well, I'm I'm thinking we're talking about medicine back
Speaker 4: in the days before we really knew what the heck
Speaker 4: we were doing, and I think a comment and cure
Speaker 4: at that time was one variation of it was leeches.
Speaker 3: So I'm going to say the one you bleed.
Speaker 2: You got it, the one you belied. And by the way,
Speaker 2: for my book, I researched you can still buy medicinal leeches,
Speaker 2: which claim is sort of like the alternative medicine like
Speaker 2: Goop type that you actually these will I don't clean
Speaker 2: your chakras and make you healthy.
Speaker 4: Well, you know that's really interesting. When you say Goop,
Speaker 4: do you mean the magazine that was founded.
Speaker 2: By Yeah, the Gwyneth Paul Show, sort of lifestyle alternative medicale.
Speaker 4: I don't think that. I don't think that group are
Speaker 4: buying leeches a j. I just don't think that. I
Speaker 4: think you're I think it's alternative medicine, but I think
Speaker 4: it's a different crowd.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, have you heard some of the things
Speaker 2: they do? I mean, have a family podcast. I don't
Speaker 2: know if I want to get into details.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, you're right, I just well, we'll see.
Speaker 4: Maybe we could maybe we could ask them.
Speaker 2: I think it's worth asking. All right, what about one
Speaker 2: last one? What about this is a show about two
Speaker 2: startups and you're an angel investor and the one that
Speaker 2: succeeds is the one that you The one that goes
Speaker 2: to an IPO is the one you.
Speaker 3: Oh goodness, all right, let me think.
Speaker 2: A little tricky. So if you're an angel investor and there's.
Speaker 3: The one, the one you have the most greed.
Speaker 2: Oh, I give you full credit. That was now what
Speaker 2: I was going.
Speaker 3: Okay, give me another hit, give me another hit.
Speaker 2: Well do you know there's like different rounds.
Speaker 4: There's the round ag Oh yes, yes, yes, I've got
Speaker 4: it all right, the one you seed.
Speaker 2: Exactly you did it? Say? I knew you were a
Speaker 2: good puzzler. Thank you so much, Eric.
Speaker 3: That was fun.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad. I'm glad that I was able to
Speaker 2: have you on my show, in addition to being on
Speaker 2: your wonderful show. Speaking of which, where can listeners find
Speaker 2: your show?
Speaker 4: You can search for the one you feed in any
Speaker 4: podcast app u or if you want to know more
Speaker 4: about it, you can go to oneufeed dot net. That's
Speaker 4: O n E y O U f e e d
Speaker 4: dot net.
Speaker 2: Love it. And before we wrap up, as always were
Speaker 2: all you puzzlers at home, an extra credit puzzle. What
Speaker 2: if there's a show about two ship It starts with
Speaker 2: a parable of two sheep in an animal husbandry program.
Speaker 2: The one who has more offspring is the one you blank?
Speaker 2: I see Eric, I.
Speaker 3: Think am I supposed to answer or not?
Speaker 2: No? No, You're doing great?
Speaker 3: Yes, just keep quiet, keep quiet?
Speaker 2: Ye, okay, please keep quiet? All right, and listeners, please
Speaker 2: come back tomorrow for the answer, and don't forget to
Speaker 2: subscribe to the Puzzler podcast and we will meet you
Speaker 2: here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 5: Hello puzzlers, I'm here with the extra credit answer from
Speaker 5: last episode. As you know, I'm the chief puzzle Officer,
Speaker 5: Greg Pliska. We played daily shows with Roy Wood Junior
Speaker 5: where every answer was a show with a day of
Speaker 5: the week in the name. We gave you the clue.
Speaker 5: This showtime comedy shows the events leading up to an
Speaker 5: historical event, where the losses are estimated at one point
Speaker 5: seventy one trillion dollars. That, of course, is Black Monday.
Speaker 5: I hope you enjoyed. We'll see you back here again soon.
Speaker 5: Thanks for playing along with the team here at the Puzzler.
Speaker 5: I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer. Our executive producers
Speaker 5: are Neelie Lohman and Adam Neuhause of New House Ideas
Speaker 5: and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced
Speaker 5: by Jody Averergan and Britney Brown of Roulette Productions. Our
Speaker 5: associate producer is on Raa Schoenberg. The Puzzler with Ajjacobs
Speaker 5: is a co production with New House Ideas and is
Speaker 5: distributed by Poached Artists Oh No Sorry, Rearrange the Letters
Speaker 5: distributed by iHeart Podcasts. If you want to know more
Speaker 5: about puzzling puzzles, please check out the book The Puzzler
Speaker 5: by Ajjacobs, a history of puzzles that The New York
Speaker 5: Times called fun and funny. It features an original puzzle
Speaker 5: hunt by yours truly, and is available wherever you get
Speaker 5: your books and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs, go
Speaker 5: visit the Puzzler dot com. See you there,