Stephen, what are you doing?

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show, is there a formula for good advice?

Hey, this is excellent advice.

Why aren't people taking it?

Also, should all new parents be required to take child

rearing classes? How often do you need to get rid of the stinky diapers before you die?

Stephen, I wonder what the very best piece of advice you've ever received was. Oh, that's so easy.

I can't believe you're even asking me that, Angela.

Now I really want to know.

The best advice I've ever received was approximately 1.5 years ago when an angel from heaven

visited me and said, Stephen, life is short.

And if you know it's good for you, you will ask Angela Duckworth

to make a podcast with you and call it no stupid questions. That was not the best piece of advice

you've ever received. I think it was an angel from heaven. It might actually just been our

executive producer. Okay. You will have to tell me the second best piece of advice you've ever

received then. The advice that comes to mind is something that happened

when I was quite young. I was maybe 11, 12 years old. I grew up in upstate New York, kind of

middle of nowhere. And our dad had died when I was about 10. And so it was rural, but people really did

look out for each other. There came to emerge a pattern where men who were not

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