20 Huberman Lab episodes that will fundamentally change the way you think
Listening to the 800+ hrs of the Huberman Lab podcast is the modern-day equivalent of reading War and Peace. Here’s a Starter Guide for average people who just want to get to the good stuff.
Listening to the 800+ hours of the Huberman Lab podcast is the modern-day equivalent of reading War and Peace.
We all know it’s a treasure trove of valuable insight. But…it’s dense. Like really dense. Osmium-level dense. Few of us have the patience for or inclination to gut through a 3 hour episode on a single topic, let alone take on the full catalog.
I am one of the few who’ve listened to nearly all of the ~200 episodes that have come out since the podcast launched in January 2021. At first I chuckled at his stiff, formal opener: “Welcome to the Huberman Podcast. Where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.” But I’ve grown to love his endearing quirks and dorky closing statement: “Thank you for listening. And thank you, as always, for your interest in Science!”
Huberman’s plodding, gravelly voice has opened a new world to me, where I can stand in awe of, wonder at, and delight in Science, with a capital S.
There have been literally hundreds of hours of mindless, boring tasks that the Huberman Lab has made bearable and more interesting for me, by engaging my mind.
While painting rooms or constructing IKEA furniture, I’ve happily listened to him enthusiastically explain the intricacies of biology — with endless caveats — as his beloved dog Costello snored in the background. While taking long runs at sunrise, I’ve learned about early-morning light exposure, the crazy effect that sleep has on blood sugar and mood, how dopamine works and can be controlled, the amazing intricacies of our visual system, and so many other topics I never would have considered looking into or learning about on my own.
Without having to go back to school or spend hours of time at my laptop researching, I’ve learned so much, and found a much deeper appreciation for incredible complexity and sophistication of the minds and bodies we so casually and thoughtlessly inhabit.
The podcast has also given me a more science-based perspective and much higher-resolution lens to look at the world. Many episodes that have covered topics that I thought I understood, but that ended up radically changing my beliefs and behaviors.
As a result of what I’ve learned in certain Huberman Lab episodes, I am much more thoughtful and intentional about the impact and effects that various protocols and substances have on how well the mind and body can function.
Today, I have very different attitudes, understanding and behavior surrounding alcohol, sleep, stress, cold exposure, fitness, and brain chemistry than I did 2 years ago before I started listening.
In scientific research terms, the changes have been, shall we say, statistically significant.
But my alt-Science education has been hard-won — it’s been earned over nearly 800+ hours of listening. The average episode ranges from 2-4 hours, and can vary tremendously in format and density. Some episodes are fairly concise, and jam-packed with super practical tips and insights that have you racing to find a notepad and furiously write things down. Some episodes are long, meandering deep-dive conversations with researchers and experts on esoteric topics that take serious patience and mental fortitude to stay present with.
This is why there are few who can honestly say they’ve listened to more than a handful of end-to-end episodes. Listening through a single episode can feel like a chore, let alone trying to navigate the catalog. You look at the 3-hour timestamp on an episode about Eye Health and you decide that Science will understand if you wait another day on this one.
But there is SO much to love and learn in the Huberman Lab podcast on topics we all are interested in and care about! The podcast really does make science-based scientific discoveries and research so much more accessible to learn, but the layperson needs a more accessible way to get started.
Here’s a Starter Guide for average people with average levels of interest in science who just want to get to the good stuff.
These are 20 episodes that will fundamentally change the way you think about these 20 topics, including stress, sleep, alcohol, motivation, emotions, and more.
01. Stress & Anxiety
What it covers: What stress is, and how it recruits our brain and body to react. A great resource for practical tools to control stress in real-time, prevent long-term stress, and avoid burnout from stress-induced illness and anxiety.
Why it matters: It will change how you manage stress in the moment, and how you think your daily routine is contributing to your stress levels. I literally use tools from this episode every day, and have taught them to my 9-year old.
02. Depression
What it covers: Accessible breakdown of what major depression is at a biological and psychological level, and the various treatments that can help prevent and treat depression.
Why it matters: If you suffer from depression or love someone who does, this will completely change how you view the condition and work to support healing and recovery. It helps you know what helps and does not help, and makes you understand how medications only help so much.
03. Mood & Mental Health
What it covers: Practical science-based tools and protocols that address the “Big 6” core pillars for mood and mental health.
Why it matters: We can control our mood and regulate our emotions a lot more than we think. Having a bank of practical tools to help us regain control of our internal experience is a game changer. With a family history of BPD and mental health challenges, we’ve experienced firsthand the difference these tools make in helping our family tune in and support each other’s emotional well-being.
04. Nicotine / Smoking / Vaping
What it covers: How nicotine impacts the brain and body, and how cigarettes, vaping, dip, and snuff are different and how they (not nicotine itself) cause cancer and other adverse health effects.
Why it matters: There’s a ton of murkiness and bad info around nicotine and vaping. This clears things up and explains how the different forms affect you. If you feel like vaping is nbd, that feeling will change after you listen.
05. Alcohol
What it covers: What alcohol does to your body, brain and health and how to make informed decisions about alcohol consumption that support your mental and physical health goals.
Why it matters: We all know drinking too much is bad for us, but how alcohol affects us and why is less understood. This provides the reality check and real-talk we all need to be more intelligent and intentional about alcohol in our life.
06. Sleep
What it covers: The biology of sleep and what specifically happens to us when we don’t get enough sleep and the effects of our habits and substances on the quality of our sleep.
Why it matters: We all know we need more sleep, but we don’t really know why so much sleep is important. This episode shows you why sleep is one of the biggest factors in your overall mood, cognitive power, ability to heal, blood sugar levels and more.
07. Cannabis
What it covers: The biological mechanisms behind its effects on the mind and body, its known medical applications, its impact on libido, creativity, hunger, hormones and its short and long-term impact on health.
Why it matters: Whether you enjoy a good high or just know people who do, this provides a fair-handed explanation of what it does in its various forms, how addictive it really is, and how to be smart about it.
08. Water
What it covers: How much water we each need to drink and when to optimize our mental focus and physical performance, and how exercise, humidity, heat, and caffeine affect hydration needs.
Why it matters: We all know that water is the source of life and we all don’t drink enough of it, but this episode will change how you think about how hydration directly supports cognitive and physical performance.
09. Caffeine
What it covers: How to use caffeine to enhance mental and physical health and performance, including optimal dosages and intake timing.
Why it matters: If you love coffee or caffeine, this will help you level up and be smarter about optimizing your caffeine intake to support your energy, focus and sleep goals.
10. Fasting
What it covers: How the timing of eating, light exposure and exercise impact health and how simple adjustments can positively impact cardiovascular function, glucose regulation and metabolism.
Why it matters: The eating schedules that ~50% of all people engage in negatively impact our health. This episode separates the bro-science from the research and provides compelling reasons to eat less often and shares reasonable protocols for how to make it work for your lifestyle.
11. Breathing
What it covers: The biology of breathing, the positive benefits of breathing properly for mood to reduce psychological and physiological stress, and the effects of different breathing techniques.
Why it matters: Most of us don’t know how to use our breath to help us calm down and power up. This episode shows you simple breathing techniques that help you relax, regulate, or activate your mind and body.
12. Longevity
What it covers: How to assess and adjust our physical health, and the behavioral measures and interventions, and key aspects of emotional health that impact our longevity.
Why it matters: Most of us want to live a long life, but one that doesn’t suck in our final years. This episode is about playing the long game of longevity so that you can be mentally and physically fit in every season of life.
13. Dopamine / Motivation / Addiction
What it covers: How to control your dopamine release for the sake of motivation, focus, avoiding and combating addiction and depression.
Why it matters: If you struggle with ADHD, addiction, depression or anxiety at all in life, this episode will completely change how you engage your brain and reward circuits to help you actually do the things your higher self wants for you.
14. Focus & ADHD
What it covers: What ADHD is, the brain circuits involved in focus, and how stimulants can increase focus and reduce hyperactivity in kids and adults.
Why it matters: Most of us have terrible focus. This episode has a ton of great tips and tricks for how to improve your focus so that you can best engage and with and complete the task at-hand.
15. Emotions & Feelings
What it covers: What emotions are and how the brain interprets signals from our body and the environment around us to create our unique emotional states.
Why it matters: This teaches you that our brains process and interpret signals and inputs very differently from what we think. Our internal experience, feelings, and facial expressions are a lot less “concrete” than we are taught. You’ll be challenged in how you interpret your own and other’s emotional experiences.
16. Growth Mindset & Goal Setting
What it covers: How to focus on developing skills through practice and effort, and how to self-reward to improve learning and performance.
Why it matters: Cultivating a growth mindset in ourselves and our kids is one of the most important factors for success. This helps you do this in practical ways so you can learn, grow from, and embrace the challenges in your life, instead of bemoaning your problems and staying stuck.
17. Cold & Heat Exposure
What it covers: How deliberate heat and cold protocols improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity and enhance energy, mood, and focus.
Why it matters: I cannot stand being cold but decided to start running in sub-freezing temperatures and take cold showers after this podcast. It’s amazing how much more resilient I am mentally and physically to stress and pain.
18. Fitness
What it covers: How to assess and improve fitness, and valuable science-supported fitness tools that are fast and easy but greatly enhance your fitness level.
Why it matters: A fit body makes for an easier life. These episodes cut through the crap of what the gym bros hype on about and provide real insight on how to improve your fitness and functional health so that you can feel strong and move easily about your day.
19. Light
What it covers: How light impacts cells, tissues and organs, and how light can be used to improve sleep, enhance alertness, modulate hormone levels, and improve mood.
Why it matters: Our modern default is staying inside looking at screens and then scratching our head why we feel like garbage. This episode explains how our biology is primed and fueled by light and shows you why getting sunlight first thing in the morning can brighten your mood for the entire day.
20. Music
What it covers: How your brain and body are fundamentally wired to perceive and respond to music and how you can use music to improve your mood, process sad emotions, and enhance learning and performance.
Why it matters: Whether you cannot imagine life without music or are a podcast junky, this episode will fascinate you. It will leave you in absolute awe of the tremendous emotional power that music has on the heart and mind.
This is great! Have heard some of these but will download the others for future listening. Thanks for this awesome curation! (And sorry I didn’t take a look before you published... yesterday was a travel day).
Question for you: how do you listen to Huberman lab without feeling compelled to take a note every 10 seconds. I hesitate to listen to his stuff sometimes unless I have a google doc open in front of me. It can take me 6 hours to get through a 3 hour podcast because I feel like there’s so much important information within I want to capture!
Curious to hear your thoughts.
Ive had to archive this note. I’ve listened to some of his podcasts, and his own story about how he grew up, and got to where he is now is fantastic. I think it was a Joe Rogan show I saw him on. Inspiring guy!