A Not-So-Small Announcement From Author A.J. Jacobs!
Hello. I’m A.J. Jacobs, a writer, podcaster, and human guinea pig. Welcome to my new and improved (but still free of charge!) newsletter.
Each week, I’ll be sending out an original short essay about my life experiments. My plan is to mix memoir, humor, science, and a dollop of self-help so you can get life-improving tips and wisdom without having to undergo the painful and embarrassing parts of these lifestyle experiments. You can leave that to me. That’s my job.
Plus, I’ll be using this sleek Substack platform where you can chat with me and leave comments.
Let me kick off the interactivity by asking some hard-hitting questions of myself:
WHO ARE YOU AGAIN?
I’m a writer, journalist, and podcaster. I’ve written four New York Times bestsellers and lots of articles in which I do experiments with my life. The idea of these experiments is to figure how to improve myself and the world (and also stay married to my very patient wife, Julie). Some examples of my projects:
Living by all the rules of the Bible for a year for the book The Year of Living Biblically.
Thanking a thousand people who had anything to do with my morning cup of coffee, as told in the book and TED Talk Thanks a Thousand.
Attempting to be the healthiest person alive in the book Drop Dead Healthy.
Avoiding all interaction with plastic for a feature for the New York Times - a quest that required revamping every part of my life and a frantic hunt for elastic-free underwear.
Solving the hardest puzzles in the world (or attempting to, anyway) for my book The Puzzler. This ode to crosswords, riddles, and word puzzles led to my daily iHeart podcast, “The Puzzler.”
WHAT WILL BE IN THIS NEWSLETTER?
Every week, I will send you a free essay that I hope will be entertaining and helpful.
The essay might be about a totally new life experiment. Or it might include fresh insights on previous experiments. Or it might be a personal essay about books, movies, mental health, physical health, food, or my new obsession with walking sticks.
My old newsletter was mostly about announcing the occasional new book or podcast. This version will have actual original content. Here are some sample topics you’ll be seeing in coming weeks:
What I Learned from An Initially Awkward but Ultimately Rewarding Visit with Oprah Winfrey.
A Non-Morbid Guide to Memento Mori (the age-old practice of reminding yourself that you are mortal).
Life Wisdom I Gained From Competing in the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship.
Five Surprising Lessons from my Year of Living Constitutionally. In my new book, I tried to understand our country by adopting the mindset and technology of our Founding Fathers—quill pens, muskets, tricorne hats, and all. Oddly, it gave me insights into life in 2024.
Why I’m Proud of Finishing Dead Last in a Triathlon.
Three Insights that Tie Together All My Experiments.
SO ARE YOU GIVING AWAY A TINY BIT OF CONTENT AND THEN CHARGING FOR THE GOOD STUFF?
The answer is no (and I’m not sure I like your tone). The weekly essay will always be the main part of “Experimental Living with A.J. Jacobs,” and it will always be totally free.
In the coming months, I will be adding some fun bells and whistles—videos, reader events, audio segments—that will be available to paid subscribers.
So if you want to support my experiments in the most generous way possible, please do sign on as a paid subscriber. It’s $5 per month, $30 a year (the minimum fee this platform will let me charge). Having paid subscribers makes a big difference on this platform, and allows me to reach new readers.
DO YOU HAVE ANY SOCIAL PROOF THAT OTHER PEOPLE LIKE YOUR WORK, SO I FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE SUBSCRIBING?
In fact I do! I don’t normally like to boast, but since you asked…
Four of my books are New York Times bestsellers.
I’ve written for dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Esquire, Slate, The Washington Post, and Dental Economics magazine, probably the leading business journal for tooth-care professionals.
I host a podcast called “The Puzzler” that gets hundreds of thousands of downloads per month and that Neil Patrick Harris called “awesome” and “delightful.”
I’ve been on NPR’s Weekend Edition dozens of times talking about everything from Mayan sports to political vacation scandals, and I’ve been featured on CBS Sunday Morning talking about such topics as gratitude, puzzles, and the Constitution.
I’ve given several TED talks have been downloaded more than 10 million times, and for which I’ve been paid the same amount as Michelle Obama and Bill Gates ($0).
My work has been praised by The New York Times (“fun and funny”), Vanity Fair (“inspired and inspiring”), People magazine (“brilliant”), and my Uncle Henry in several Amazon reviews.
I have been officially endorsed by famous people, and who can argue with famous people? The above-mentioned Neil Patrick Harris, but also Jon Stewart (“hilarious”), Dax Shepard (“amazing”), and Daniel Radcliffe (“awesome”).
A recent study by Oxford professors concluded that my TED talk on the global family might just save the world. Really.
WHAT ARE SOME PERSONAL FACTS SO I CAN HAVE A MORE WELL-ROUNDED VIEW OF YOU AS A HUMAN BEING?
I live in New York City with my wife, three sons, and two tortoises.
I was raised by my mom (an elementary school science teacher) and my dad (a lawyer who holds the world record for most footnotes in a law review article: 4,824)
My wife, Julie, is the president of Watson Adventures Scavenger Hunts. They put on highbrow scavenger hunts in museums and historic neighborhoods across the world. My objective opinion: They are freakin’ amazing.
I spend 15 minutes a day coming up with ideas, 98 percent of which are crap, but 2 percent of which are, I hope, interesting. Here’s an example of a crappy idea I came up with: A deck of conversation question cards for dogs (e.g. What’s the most memorable butt you have ever sniffed?)
I appeared as the answer to 1-Down in the New York Times crossword a few years ago. The clue was “Bestselling author of The Know-it-All, A.J. _____.” For a word nerd, it was one of the top three highlights of my life. Though my brother-in-law did point out the answer appeared in the Saturday New York Times puzzle. Saturday is the hardest puzzle of the week. All the answers are completely obscure. So my brother-in-law’s point was that my appearance in the Saturday puzzle was not a compliment. On the contrary, it’s proof that no one knows who I am. Still, I was in there!
DO YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A CURATED LIST OF SOME OF THE OTHER PIECES YOU'VE WRITTEN?
Yes I do! Here you go.
I removed the filter between my brain and my mouth for a month. Not everyone loved it (including me). In the end, I came to believe in Sustainable Radical Honesty.
I was working at Esquire magazine, and my boss asked actress Mary-Louise Parker to pose nude. She said she would, but only if the editor of the piece also posed nude so that he could experience the discomfort and objectification. I was that editor.
At the start of the outsourcing trend, I hired a team of people in Bangalore, India to do everything for me. That included answering my emails, answering my phone, arguing with my wife for me, and reading bedtime stories to my kids. This article appeared in Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Work Week.
I wrote an essay for The New York Times about how I am addicted to blurbing other people’s books. My self-blurb: This article is a remarkably insightful and moving piece of writing!
SO WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE AGAIN BETWEEN THE FREE AND PAID OPTIONS?
Good question. I admire your quest for clarity. If you sign up for the free version of “Experimental Living,” you will get my free weekly essay. This is the heart of “Experimental Living,” and it will always be free. As free as the wind blows. As free as the grass grows.
If you sign on as a paying subscriber, you will get fun add-ons, such as AMAs, videos, audio, and other yet-to-be-determined goodies. Plus you get the warm-and-fuzzies that come from supporting independent journalism.
I’m happy to have you either way! But having paying subscribers will help subsidize my experiments, and will also help “Experimental Living” get featured on this platform so it can grow and reach the most readers possible.
Thank you again! As they said in the constitutional days…Your Humble and Obedient Servant, A.J. Jac.
How fun, cousin A.J.! I look forward to getting to know more about you and your experiments. :-) ~ Eowyn
Always loved your writing and reflections since the early Esquire days, stoked you’re on here now!