The WOW Machine Stops (Pt 2)
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tony Hsieh, the billionaire CEO of Zappos, is passionate about community. He pours his time, energy and fortune into building a network of like-minded people - first in Las Vegas, then Park City, Utah. But Tony's quest to build connection soon spirals into isolation, addiction and mistrust of those closest to him, revealing a contradictory truth about the pursuit of one of our most fundamental human needs.
WARNING: This episode discusses death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts, support is available - for example, from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123
See the show notes at timharford.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.0 | There are moments in each of our lives that seem to change everything. |
| 0:08.3 | An unexpected diagnosis, the sudden end of a relationship, the loss of a job. |
| 0:13.4 | As our lives fear off course, it can feel like time is dividing into a before and an after. |
| 0:19.5 | I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist, |
| 0:22.6 | and my new book, The Other Side of Change, |
| 0:25.3 | Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans, |
| 0:28.0 | is all about how we navigate these inflection points. |
| 0:31.2 | The other side of change pairs singular real-life stories |
| 0:34.4 | with scientific insights to help us find meaning in the tumult of change. |
| 0:39.3 | What if we saw the hardest moments in our lives, not simply as something to endure, |
| 0:44.1 | but as an opportunity to reimagine who we can be? |
| 0:47.4 | I'm thrilled to share that booklist gave The Other Side of Change one of its coveted starred |
| 0:52.4 | reviews, saying, quote, it's impossible not to be moved. The other side of change, one of its coveted starred reviews, saying, quote, it's impossible not to be moved. The other side of change is out now. Get your copy |
| 1:00.0 | today wherever you like to buy books. Pushkin. |
| 1:16.5 | A warning before we start, this cautionary tale discusses death by suicide. |
| 1:22.1 | If you're suffering emotional distress or you're having suicidal thoughts, support is available. |
| 1:28.6 | For example, from the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK. On the 4th of July 2020, |
| 1:41.6 | in Park City, Utah, two friends are drinking beer on the porch of the Airbnb they've rented for the holidays. |
| 1:50.1 | Happy fourth, they call out to a man walking past on the sidewalk. |
| 1:55.0 | The passerby stops to chat. |
... |
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