Stupid Questions with Seth Hill

Seth Hill
  • 4.7 (19)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Biweekly

Asking smart people stupid questions.

  1. 1d ago

    #232 - Mango Fetzer: Sailing the Atlantic, Surviving a Home Invasion & the Wisdom of Dream Big

    Mango Fetzer is Luke Fetzer's mom — and one of the most vibrant, well-lived humans I've ever had the privilege of talking to. She's spent a decade sailing across oceans, worked as a private chef around the world, survived a beaten-bound-and-bagged home invasion in Panama, and taught her kids to see life as a gift, every single day, no matter what. This conversation went places I didn't expect. Mango talks about looking a masked intruder in the eyes and telling him to look at her before he pulled the trigger. She talks about coping with PTSD through Heart Math breathing techniques and cracking Australian stock whips with an old cowboy neighbor. We get into her decade sailing the Atlantic — the doldrums, the Cape Verde Islands, a retired naval captain who couldn't tolerate the smell of curry, waking up to bioluminescent dolphins outside Antigua at night. We also talk about her mother's final moments, watching the sunrise clouds burst as she passed, the ginkgo tree Luke planted in the front yard the day they bought their Laguna Beach home, and why she believes the more people you tell your dreams to, the more likely they are to actually happen. This one is a masterclass in living wide open. Bring tissues. Bring wonder. Mango’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/mangomama_laguna/ Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #232 - Mango Fetzer: Sailing the Atlantic, Surviving a Home Invasion & the Wisdom of Dream Big

  2. Jul 20

    #231 - Elliott Teller: The Founder of People's Endurance on China Manufacturing, Fatherhood & Building Freedom to Build

    Elliott Teller is the founder of People's Endurance — a cycling and running apparel company built on a simple bet: that quality doesn't have to come with a brand tax. He's also a former director of photography, a tech sales guy turned entrepreneur, a new dad, and someone who spent his first two years running the business on virtually no sleep while juggling APAC hours, a newborn, and a wife going back to work with barely any paid leave. Elliott sits down with me to talk about leaving the film industry after watching too many burned-out, divorced veterans warn him off it, his seven years in tech sales that started with a week-long trial run and an air mattress in a buddy's home office, and the wild timing of quitting his job the same week his wife found out she was pregnant. We get into the actual mechanics of the apparel industry — dyed versus sublimated fabrics, why manufacturing still has to happen in Asia, and the privateer model he's building to let athletes sponsor themselves instead of chasing brand deals that rarely pay. We also go deep on parenting, mitochondria and longevity, the small daily decisions that keep your internal compass tuned, and why he thinks bigger brands are starting to quietly copy his playbook. This one's for anyone building something from scratch while also trying to keep a tiny human alive. Elliot’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/elliottteller/ Peoples Endurance: https://peoplesendurance.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqdKCZePjXPrPHD2cFVtQoHzb_sdGdXt_7TVGSqs6tEJot2rw-8Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #231 - Elliott Teller: The Founder of People's Endurance on China Manufacturing, Fatherhood & Building Freedom to Build

  3. Jul 6

    #230 - Andrew Vos: The Dad Who Broke a Guinness World Record (and Realized Family Matters More Than Success)

    Andrew Vos is a husband, father of two, endurance athlete, entrepreneur, and former Guinness World Record holder for the fastest mile while pushing a stroller. But this conversation isn't really about the world record—it's about the life behind it. Andrew shares how becoming a dad completely changed his priorities, why he no longer cares what other people think, and how his definition of success shifted from chasing titles and promotions to walking his boys to school every morning. We talk about growing up in small-town Wisconsin, getting cut from a Division I running team, finding a home in Division III, discovering triathlon at 34, and the hilarious story of breaking a Guinness World Record during COVID while his kids blasted fart noises through his headphones. We also dive into navigating ulcerative colitis while training, building businesses that create freedom instead of just income, raising resilient kids without overprotecting them, balancing ambition with family, and why the best legacy you can leave isn't a résumé—it's children who know they were seen, loved, and supported. This is a conversation about fatherhood, purpose, endurance, and the quiet success that often matters most. Andrew’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.vos_tri/ Wild & Free Hats: https://www.instagram.com/wild_and_free_hats/ Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #230 - Andrew Vos: The Dad Who Broke a Guinness World Record (and Realized Family Matters More Than Success)

  4. Jun 28

    #229 - Alex Wormuth: The Software Engineer Building an AI Triathlon Coach Nobody Else Had the Nerve to Build

    Alex Wormuth is a software engineer, dad of two, and the founder of Transition — an AI-powered triathlon training platform he built in his nights and weekends because the existing tools weren't quite right for triathletes, and because he had a hunch that large language models could actually coach people pretty well. Turns out he was right. Alex sits down with me to talk about growing up in Riverside, traveling solo through Europe and Nepal straight out of college, living in Guangzhou during the early days of COVID, and how all of that shaped the way he thinks about building things and understanding people. We get into the parallels between entrepreneurship and travel — the risk tolerance, the discomfort, the not knowing what's around the corner — and why his dad letting him climb 30 feet up a tree at five years old probably had something to do with it. We also go deep on AI. What it's actually doing to software engineering right now, why the jobs most at risk aren't the ones people think, what the real value of a human coach still is, and why the companies best positioned to get disrupted are the ones most afraid to disrupt themselves. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we talked about whether a paper data center is a viable business idea. I think it might be. Try Transition free for 30 days: transition.fun Search "Transition Triathlon" on the App Store Transition IG: https://www.instagram.com/transitiontriathlonWays to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #229 - Alex Wormuth: The Software Engineer Building an AI Triathlon Coach Nobody Else Had the Nerve to Build

  5. Jun 22

    #228 - Round 4 - Ari Klau: Round Four on Mindfulness, the Post-Mustache Era & Losing His Sister

    Ari Klau is back for round four — and this one goes places we haven't gone before. Fresh off a second-place finish at Chattanooga and building toward what may be the best season of his career, Ari sits down with me to talk about what's actually changed and what hasn't. We get into the mindfulness practice he picked up at a swim camp earlier this year and how it's quietly become the biggest performance differentiator in his racing. We talk about what it actually feels like to finally podium after years of grinding — and why it didn't feel the way he thought it would. We go deep on the tyranny of the mind, trusting external structure over internal impulse, and the philosophy of doing things you don't want to do as the real definition of self-care. We also talk about the mustache. It's gone. Apparently, two high-level team managers had written him off as not serious because of it. His dad saw photos from Chattanooga and said he looks formidable now. The results seem to agree. And then at the end, Ari shares something he's never talked about on here before — losing his sister in 2021, how it launched him into professional triathlon, and what it's like to still be processing that while also being the son who keeps forgetting to call on his dad's birthday. It's the same day as his late sister's birthday. It's a lot to carry. Ari’s YT: https://www.youtube.com/@archmdz Ari’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/archmdz/?hl=en Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #228 - Round 4 - Ari Klau: Round Four on Mindfulness, the Post-Mustache Era & Losing His Sister

  6. Jun 15

    #227 - Dr. Cory Reich: Mental Performance Coach on Pure Intelligence, Post-Traumatic Growth & What Almost Dying Taught Him About Living

    Dr. Cory Rich has spent 40 years trying to understand one thing — what brings out the very best in the human condition. As a mental performance coach, he's worked with elite triathletes, Native American tribes using equine-assisted healing, addiction recovery programs, and everyone in between. And at the center of all of it is a question he first started asking when his father died in a car accident and he was seven years old. Cory sits down with me to talk about losing his dad, his aunt, his uncle, and his grandmother all before he was a teenager — and why none of it turned into bitterness. We get into his Pure Intelligence framework and what he calls the fourth and crowning intelligence — spiritual intelligence — and why developing it is more predictive of health, performance, and happiness than any drug or therapy on the market. We also talk about the day a doctor told him he probably wasn't going to survive the next few days, and what that kind of clarity does to a person's sense of what actually matters. This one goes deep fast and never really comes up for air. We cover identity architecture, why 95% of our decisions are made subconsciously, the difference between post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth, and why the most important question you can ask yourself right now is — if I died tomorrow, would I have any regrets? Oh, and SQ doesn't just stand for Stupid Questions. Turns out it also stands for Spiritual Quotient. Cory noticed it on the wall behind me and smiled. I think that's about right. The Transformational Power of Pure Intelligence — available on AmazonCory’s Site: https://www.pureintelligence.life  Cory’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/coryareich/ Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #227 - Dr. Cory Reich: Mental Performance Coach on Pure Intelligence, Post-Traumatic Growth & What Almost Dying Taught Him About Living

  7. Jun 8 ·  Bonus

    BONUS - Tulsa Tough Day 1 — Team Cadence Cyclery Race Recap: Fourth Place, Full Send & Coming Back Hungry

    Night one of three at Tulsa Tough and Team Cadence Cyclery came in short of the win — but not short of heart. Lucas Burgoyne, Luke Fetzer and the crew sit down with me courtside for a raw, unfiltered recap of how the night went down.We talk about Boldy crashing 15 minutes in and getting back up, Cesar carving through the peloton like an assassin, the two-lap moment where it all almost came together — and why a fourth place finish on night one might be exactly the fuel this team needs heading into days two and three.Short, real, and straight from the finish line. This is what crit racing actually feels like.🚴 Follow Team Cadence Cyclery: https://www.instagram.com/teamcadencecyclery/

    BONUS - Tulsa Tough Day 1 — Team Cadence Cyclery Race Recap: Fourth Place, Full Send & Coming Back Hungry

  8. Jun 8

    #226 - Eric Zaltas: Nestle Scientist, Bronx Kid & the Pursuit of What's Actually in Your Bar

    Eric Zaltas grew up in a 75,000-person apartment complex in the Bronx, winning spelling bees and getting pushed around on the playground. He needed to prove there was a body connected to the brain. So he became a competitive cyclist, raced in 47 states, rode through Harlem and the South Bronx on Saturday mornings to get to Central Park, and eventually turned a passion for sports science into a career that took him from Berkeley to Nestle headquarters in Switzerland — where he helped fund the research that now underpins how most endurance athletes think about carbohydrate intake. Now he's back in the Bronx, recently remarried, co-founder of a startup called Addra Labs, and still swimming in a 50-meter pool between meetings at a local city college. Eric sits down with me to talk about the arc of a life built around curiosity — what it was like to be beamed up to Switzerland with a young family, the London Business School professor who told him he should be running a startup instead, the near-death moment that almost killed Addra before it launched, and the strange experience he had writing a memorial for his best friend that he still can't fully explain. We also get into what it means to age well, what he learned from his first marriage, and why his 85-year-old dad still emails him at 4:30am every Wednesday to critique the science newsletter. This one is for the curious ones. Eri’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/ericzaltas/ ADDRA IG: https://www.instagram.com/addra_labs/ Ways to Support the Show👇🏼 Nothing Novel: https://nothingnovel.life  Socks: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch  Newsletter: ⁠https://stupidquestions.show/pages/newsletter-signup

    #226 - Eric Zaltas: Nestle Scientist, Bronx Kid & the Pursuit of What's Actually in Your Bar
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