Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel

Manoush Zomorodi, journalist and author of Body Electric, led a 23,000-person study on short movement breaks. She explains why sitting drains energy and why standing desks fall short. Hear how five-minute walks every 30 minutes changed mood, glucose, and habits. Practical tips for weaving micro-movement into workdays and treating the body like an ally for sustained focus.

Aiko Bethea, leadership coach and author of Anchored, Aligned, Accountable, offers a compact bio and roadmap for reclaiming agency at work. She talks about why work feels more chaotic, what being anchored in your values really looks like, how alignment speeds decisions, the many forms of workplace power, and why curiosity and generous accountability change how teams repair and grow.

Nick Hatton, executive and comedy producer (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), and Lee Eisenberg, writer and co-creator of Jury Duty and former The Office writer, join to unpack Company Retreat. They discuss placing one real person among actors, crafting a vulnerable underdog, casting insights about gig work, rehearsals versus live unpredictability, ethical “breadcrumbs,” and worries about AI and industry consolidation.

Arthur Brooks, Harvard social scientist and bestselling author on happiness and purpose, offers a compact formula for finding meaning. He explores why high achievers feel empty, how devices and erased boredom hollow out purpose, the arrival fallacy, spiral career paths, and his 80/20/0 gut test for career choices. Short, practical ideas on retrofitting calling into your current life.

Jodi Kantor, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of How to Start, shares her winding path from law school to investigative reporting. She talks about embracing the messy early years of a career. She explains why building a craft matters more than chasing prestige. She explores how AI and impersonal hiring change job search and why relationships and cold outreach still matter.

Jonathan Haidt, NYU Stern social psychologist and author focused on moral psychology and youth mental health. He discusses how smartphones rewired childhood and fragmented attention. He outlines why social platforms drive anxiety, how tech captures focus, and practical ways families and workplaces can reclaim attention and restore unstructured play.

Do you think of your beliefs as immutable facts? If so, you might be holding yourself back. In this episode of Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel sits down with Nir Eyal, bestselling author whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, technology, and human potential. His latest book, Beyond Belief, explores how the stories we tell ourselves shape our motivation, and how changing those stories can change our outcomes. In this conversation, Jessi and Nir explore how limiting beliefs take hold, why our brains default to helplessness, and how we can challenge the narratives that keep us stuck. Jessi and Nir discuss: Why beliefs should be treated as tools, not truths How limiting beliefs undermine motivation and progress The “motivation triangle” and why belief is essential to action Why we often quit too early, and what a famous rat experiment reveals about persistence A practical method for questioning assumptions and collecting new perspectives Why visualization can actually hurt motivation, and what to do instead The difference between pain and suffering, and why separating the two matters At the heart of Nir’s work is a simple idea: our minds default to safety and survival, not growth. But when we learn to question the beliefs that hold us back, we can unlock more motivation, agency, and possibility in our lives. Follow Nir Eyal and Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn. Office Hours are back! Join Jessi live from her LinkedIn page on Wednesday 4/1 at 3pm EST. 

Regina E. Dugan, leader of Wellcome Leap who builds fast biomedical breakthroughs, and Melinda French Gates, philanthropist focused on women’s opportunity and health. They reframe women’s health as a workplace equity and economic issue. Conversations cover underdiagnosed conditions, research gaps, menopause at work, AI-driven maternal-care advances, and how leaders and policy can drive investment and change.

Amy Webb, futurist and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group, maps how AI and converging forces remake work, institutions, and decision-making. She explains creative destruction, why planners must factor unknowns, and how leaders can prepare strategically rather than panic. The conversation highlights steering change, reinventing tools like trend reports, and choices that will shape AI’s path.

Liz Tran, leadership coach and author of AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence, explores agility quotient as the key skill for a changing world. She explains why IQ and EQ may matter less today. Short segments introduce four AQ archetypes and discuss aligning careers, building resilience, and investing in adaptable strengths.