Welcome to Intelligence Squared where great minds meet. I'm producer Mia Serenti.

In a world built for comfort and convenience, what happens when we choose the harder path?

Could discomfort itself be the key to building resilience confidence and a more meaningful life?

On today's episode, Ken Ride Out, Endurance Athlete, investor and author joins Dr. Radha Mudgill

to discuss his book, Everything You Want, is on the other side of hard and why deliberately

embracing challenge can reshape how we think, act and live. Let's join our host Dr. Radha Modgill

now with more. Hello and welcome to Intelligence Squared with me, Dr. Radamodgill.

Our guest today is Ken Rideout, the fastest marathoner in the world over 50,

and a former prison guard, Wall Street trader and opioid addicts.

His life story has been chronicled in such publications as The New York Times,

the Wall Street Journal and

Outside. Since getting sober more than a decade ago, he has won some of the world's

toughest races, including at the age of 52, the Gobi March, 155 miles self-supported race

across the sweltering Gobi Desert in Mongolia. And a few months later, the Masters 50-plus Marathon World Championships.

His new book, which we'll be discussing the themes of today,

is Everything You Want is on the other side of Hard.

Ken, welcome to the podcast. It's an absolute thrill to have you here.

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Now, I'm really excited to meet you in

person because obviously I've read the book and it is a fantastic memoir. It's inspirational. There

are so many life lessons learned in there about how to overcome obstacles and challenges. So

honestly, I cannot wait to ask you questions about your book and to meet you in person. First of all,

I guess I always wonder about what makes someone write a book. So what made you want to write

...