Podcast · Learning
by Zak Rosen · English · Learning
Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show) is a short, weekly infusion of delightful, unexpected and strange ways to make life slightly and sometimes profoundly better. In each episode a different contributor offers an odd experiment, a silly ritual, a curious practice that you’ll find weirdly
7 Oct 2026 · 16 min
Laura Hawley is a Weirdly Helpful correspondent, artist and therapist, living and giving balls away in Philadelphia. 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
30 Sep 2026 · 12 min
In this episode, Whitney Henry-Lester shares weirdly helpful approaches to overcoming personal baggage through playful experiments like Tensies which you should follow here. --- 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
23 Sep 2026 · 15 min
Katie Stone is the host and producer of The Children's Hour radio show and podcast. They launched a new series of “Shorts”, featuring teensy engaging episode highlights from their award-winning programs paired with ready-to-use learning guides to make teaching easy and fun. There are 2-minute episodes about stuff like balloons, being yourself, refugees…all the topics are picked by the kids. Check 'em out!!!! --- 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…
16 Sep 2026 · 14 min
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
9 Sep 2026 · 2 hr 10 min
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…
2 Sep 2026 · 14 min
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
26 Aug 2026 · 10 min
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
20 Aug 2026 · 25 min
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
19 Aug 2026 · 11 min
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
5 Aug 2026 · 15 min
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…
29 Jul 2026 · 14 min
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
22 Jul 2026 · 15 min
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…
15 Jul 2026 · 16 min
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
8 Jul 2026 · 17 min
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
1 Jul 2026 · 12 min
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
24 Jun 2026 · 13 min
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
19 Jun 2026 · 1 min
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…
17 Jun 2026 · 20 min
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
10 Jun 2026 · 18 min
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
3 Jun 2026 · 15 min
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
27 May 2026 · 20 min
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
20 May 2026 · 14 min
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
13 May 2026 · 20 min
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…
6 May 2026 · 14 min
I'm excited to share a preview of a new podcast I think you’d enjoy: No Such Thing. It's a show where three best friends and journalists settle their dumb arguments — and yours — by actually doing the research. Hosts Manny Fidel, Noah Friedman, and Devan Joseph start each episode with an argument using just their gut feelings. Then they go out into the world, investigate, talk to experts, and conduct some experiments. Finally, the guys bring their findings back to the group to see if they can change minds,enlighten each other, and move past their emotional truths. Find No Such Thing on…
6 May 2026 · 11 min
Shari and Eric are married with children in NYC. They were last on the show talking about touching feet during marital discord. More on SPOA - Lucy Anderton on graphing household labor and other weirdly helpful gems. - 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
29 Apr 2026 · 17 min
On today's episode, a family's post-dinner ritual and later Zak tells the improbable tale of Peace Pilgrim. Lucy, Gino and Avery fart walk in Miami, FL. Lucy co-hosts Slate's parenting show with Zak and Elizabeth Newcamp. It's called Care and Feeding. She also hosts the Mamacita Rica and co-authors Best Mom Friends Forever. --- LISTEN TO WH AD-FREE BY BECOMING A PATRON TODAY! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
22 Apr 2026 · 20 min
Mike Pesca is the creator and host of The Gist, the longest-running daily news podcast in history, moderator of Not Even Mad, a political debate podcast, and host of Funny You Should Mention, a co-production with the Comedy Cellar, where he conducts in-depth interviews with stand up comedians. On today's show we get into how understanding your own neurochemistry can offer new perspectives on mental health and anxiety. READ: Opinion | The Feel-Good Gene LISTEN: How to address acute anxiety with Terry Rawls --- LISTEN: You in Mind |Yoni London --- LISTEN TO WH ad-free by becoming a Patron…
15 Apr 2026 · 21 min
Cara Ryan is an academic living in Florida. --- Laura Weber Davis originally gave her cover letter advice back in 2023. --- Listen to WH ad-free by becoming a Weird Helper right now @ Patreon.com/weirdlyhelpful Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
8 Apr 2026 · 16 min
Laura Hawley is an artist and therapist from Philadelphia. She's a frequent contributor to the show having first called about howling, then giving away 62 balls! Bob Newhart's Stop It Sketch from MAD TV. -- Call me (Zak) on the Weirdly Helpline @ 844-935-2378 to share what you find weirdly helpful. -- Listen to the show ad-free by becoming a Patron today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1 Apr 2026 · 20 min
Eric Zimmer is an author, teacher, speaker, and the creator of The One You Feed podcast—an award-winning show with over 50 million downloads across 800+ conversations exploring meaningful living. His new book is How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. --- Billy Oppenheimer is a writer and research assistant to Ryan Holiday based in Austin, TX. Every Sunday at 6 AM (CT) Billy sends out an email with SIX things he's learned, thought were interesting, or found useful. SUBSCRIBE HERE. --- COMEDIAN - A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry…
Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show) is a short, weekly infusion of delightful, unexpected and strange ways to make life slightly and sometimes profoundly better. In each episode a different contributor offers an odd experiment, a silly ritual, a curious practice that you’ll find weirdly
Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show) is a English learning podcast from Zak Rosen. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
