The Karol Markowicz Show: Optimism, Overcoming Negativity, and Leading with Principles with Mary Katharine Ham & Gregg Easterbrook

Summary

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The Karol Markowicz Show: Optimism, Overcoming Negativity, and Leading with Principles

Guests: Mary Katharine Ham & Gregg Easterbrook
Date: September 26, 2025
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)
Host: Carol Markowitz

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Karol Markowicz Show delves into personal growth, optimism in the face of negativity, and navigating life with clear principles. Mary Katharine Ham joins for a candid listener Q&A on relationships and life choices, followed by an in-depth conversation with author Gregg Easterbrook about why the world is better than it seems, how to overcome cultural pessimism, and what truly matters in building a fulfilling life.

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Key Segments and Takeaways

1. Listener Q&A with Mary Katharine Ham (03:16–08:45)

Topic: Dating, Age Gaps, and Life After Loss

A longtime listener asks for advice about dating in his 60s, with a younger partner who wants to have children—a decision complicated by generational differences and the presence of adult children from his first marriage.

Highlights & Insights:

• Honesty Above All:

  • “You guys need to have a very frank discussion about this because time is of the essence—for both of you.”
    — Mary Katharine Ham [04:44]
  • Both hosts emphasize the importance of clarity and directness, especially given biological clocks and the desire for children.

• Emotional Authenticity:

  • “A lot of people focus on the age or the mom, but my husband always makes this point that having kids is a young man’s game. It’s not that easy for the dads, either.”
    — Carol Markowitz [05:43]
  • The challenges of older parenthood are real for both partners and factor into the decision.

• Considering Societal Judgment:

  • “He uses the word ‘ridiculous’ to characterize this age gap, which, yes, it’s out of the ordinary, but it indicates his concern is how it would be viewed—maybe not how it would feel to have the kid.”
    — Mary Katharine Ham [06:48]

• Notable Quote:

  • “We think people are judging us or thinking about the choices we make—they’re not. They’re thinking about themselves and how you’re thinking about them.”
    — Carol Markowitz [07:12]

Actionable Advice:

• Don’t let societal perceptions dictate deeply personal life choices.
• If you can’t provide what your partner truly wants (e.g., children), end things promptly to avoid wasting their time.

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2. Interview with Greg Easterbrook – The Case for Optimism (13:50–40:19)

Topic: Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Greg Easterbrook, author of It's Better Than It Looks, argues that despite the constant negativity in media and politics, global and national trends in well-being, equality, and prosperity are overwhelmingly positive. He explores why people believe things are worse than ever and how to fight the tide of cynicism.

Key Points and Insights

• The Data Doesn’t Lie

  • “If you looked at social statistics about the United States—trends in violence, pollution, longevity, discrimination—in most cases they started improving... and they’ve improved a lot in the last 30 years.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [14:21]
  • U.S. pollution, discrimination, and disease rates continue to fall; life expectancy and per capita income (even for the middle class) are up.

• Cultural and Political Incentives for Negativity

  • “For some reason this makes people angry, especially in the New York City environment. The only thing that’s politically correct is to feel despair and anxiety... If you say, ‘No, actually things are getting better,’ that makes people angry.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [15:36]

• The Rose-Colored Past is a Myth

  • “People are prone to self-pity. You mythologize the past and think it was much better... but think about the 1950s, when blacks couldn’t ride buses and you could be thrown in jail for being gay. Prosperity, in current dollars, was about 20% of what it is today.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [16:28]

• Media as a Negativity Engine

  • “The free market seems to like scare tactics. That's what it's willing to pay for... you watch the channels that are selling scare tactics.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [18:08]
  • Both mainstream news and political parties benefit from fearmongering, regardless of affiliation.

• On Achieving Youthful Ambitions

  • “I’m relatively rare. My youthful ambition was to be a writer, and I’ve accomplished it.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [18:59]
  • Easterbrook reflects on the importance of persistence and self-direction over parental or societal expectations.

• On Professional Diversity and Creativity

  • “People are multifaceted... I’m glad you’re not following that advice to pick a lane and just do one thing.”
    — Carol Markowitz [21:12]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Optimism Makes You Unpopular:

  • “What I say that makes people angry is I’m an optimist.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [15:21]

• The Debt Crisis Worry:

  • “The shocking statistic is that the United States has borrowed more money in the last 15 years than it borrowed in the previous 235 years combined.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [29:11]

• The Real Existential Threat:

  • “There are still 11,000 nuclear bombs in the world. Someday one of those damn things is going to go off. And we’re on the precipice of the main nuclear arms control treaty... expiring in February.”
    — Greg Easterbrook [32:11]

• Evergreen Writing:

  • “My goal is to produce a magazine that you could put the copies into the attic, find them 25 years later, and still be interested.”
    — Greg Easterbrook, paraphrasing Bill Whitworth [38:11]

What Should Listeners Do?

• Don’t Succumb to Cynicism

  • Cultivate gratitude, optimism, and forgiveness—not just as virtues, but as paths to personal happiness.

• Take Action Where You Can

  • Public pressure matters: contact representatives about issues like nuclear arms treaties.

• Live with Intentionality

  • Pursue your ambitions early; don’t be afraid to step outside “your lane.”

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3. Closing Reflections & Life Advice (39:15–40:19)

Greg Easterbrook’s Parting Wisdom:

• “Be grateful, be optimistic, be forgiving. We think of those things as virtue, but actually, they’re good for you. They improve your own life... My main advice would be don’t be angry at the world. Don’t be cynical. Don’t be anxious. In general, you should be optimistic, grateful, and you should forgive others.”
  — Greg Easterbrook [39:28]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:16 – Listener question: Dating, age gaps, and family complexities
• 04:44 – Mary Katharine Ham on honesty and time in relationships
• 05:43 – Carol Markowitz: Pros and cons of parenting at an older age
• 06:48 – The role of societal perception and self-judgment
• 13:50 – Greg Easterbrook interview begins
• 14:21 – Why statistical trends paint a more optimistic picture
• 16:28 – The myths of the “good old days”
• 18:08 – Negativity in media and politics
• 29:11 – Easterbrook’s major worries: U.S. debt and nuclear war
• 32:11 – The existential nuclear threat and expiring treaties
• 39:28 – Final advice: Gratitude, optimism, forgiveness

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Episode Tone & Style

Upbeat, frank, conversational, and grounded in both personal anecdotes and rigorous skepticism toward media and political narratives. The hosts and guests are unafraid to challenge pessimism, encouraging listeners to take ownership of their outlook, pursue their goals, and focus on what truly matters.

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Summary for New Listeners

If you missed this episode, you’ll walk away with:

• Relatable, real-world advice for navigating love and family changes at any stage of life.
• Evidence-based optimism from a lifelong journalist and bestselling author who explains why most of our collective despair is misplaced.
• Concrete warnings—and actionable ideas—on America’s debt, the global nuclear threat, and the importance of principled citizenship.
• Timeless life insights: Be grateful, be optimistic, forgive—these don’t just improve the world, they enrich your life.

This episode is especially valuable for those feeling overwhelmed by negative news, struggling with big life decisions, or seeking motivation to lead with integrity and hope.

Transcript

[Carol Markowitz]

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[Carol Markowitz]

Hi and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz show on iheartradio. My special guest today for the short se where I answer listener questions is my friend and co host of Normally, Mary Kathryn Ham. Hi Mary Kathryn Hello. So nice to have you on.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Thank you for having me.

[Carol Markowitz]

So we're going to do a quick question answer for a listener who wrote in. I like this question because it really does hit on some issues that I talk about a lot. The question is, hi Carol. I've been following you since the Alarming News days. By the way, side note, Alarming News was my old blog. It's how I got into the media world. And so this person has been following me for many, many years. Like 20. Thank you so much for that. I'm 61 years old and my wife died of cancer 10 years ago. We have three grown children. I only started dating again about a year ago and I'm seeing a woman in her early 40s. I wasn't looking for someone so much younger, but we met through mutual friends and hit it off. The problem is she wants children of her own and I feel finished with that part of my life. Sometimes I think I should just have a child with her, but the idea of a 30 year age gap with my other children feels ridiculous. I don't want to lose her, but also don't want to waste her time. I feel like I need a woman's advice and I trust you. Well, thank you for that. I don't know. What do you think about that? Mary Katherine yeah, here's what I think.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Is that congrats, by the way, for finding love again. And that's exciting. And given that it is sounds like a healthy relationship, I think you guys need to have a very frank discussion about this because time is of the essence.

[Carol Markowitz]

Time's a ticking. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

For both of you, frankly, particularly for her, if she really wants this, it would be need to, it would need to be acted upon quickly. And for you, which I think, look, I'm an older mom and I understand taking that. I sort of restarted the clock on myself as well. And it can be challenging because you do have less energy, and you do have. You feel like the challenges sometimes hurt your health more or you lose more sleep or whatever it is right. When you're. When you're dealing with young children. So that's something to consider. So for both of you, the clock is ticking in a way. So you got to have that honest conversation now because you really don't want to end up in a place where she feels like her time did get wasted.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? That's exactly where I am on this. I think that it's very important not to waste her time. So you need to make a decision, and you need to say, do I care about that that age spread between my older kids and a potential new baby? Do I want this woman in my life? Do I need her in my life? Do I. Will I care about losing her if I can't give her what she wants? I will say, you know, a lot of people focus on the age or the mom, but my husband always makes this point that having kids is a young man's game. It's not that easy for the dads either. You know, and for every. And I know if you listen to my show, you've heard me say this, but everybody who's always like, well, Mick Jagger had a baby at 75, like, you are not Mick Jagger, and you will not have a team. You'll not have a squad taking care of your kids. It'll be you with your kid in the backyard. So figure out how important it is to you, and then follow Mary Kathryn's advice and, you know, make the decision together, obviously. But first, figure out where you want to go on this.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah. And I would note he uses the word ridiculous is the. Is the thing that he uses to characterize this age gap, which, yes, it's out of the ordinary, but ridiculous isn't that strong a word. And it indicates that his concern is how it would be viewed.

[Carol Markowitz]

Exactly.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Maybe not how it would feel to have the kid. And I guarantee you that having a beautiful kid is probably going to override ridiculous.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. I also noticed the ridiculous. I feel like you're absolutely right. That word is for the outward world, how it would look to other people and. And what they would think of him. Like, oh, but nobody's thinking of anybody. That's the other thing. It's like, we think that people are judging us or thinking about what we're. The choices that we make or what we're doing. They're not. They're thinking about themselves and how you're thinking about them and something that they're doing is ridiculous to you. I really liked this question because I think this guy has an opportunity at a second love, second life and all of that. And I kind of hope he takes it. I understand that there's concerns about the age and I understand that you have grown kids who, I don't know, he doesn't say it in the, in the, in the, you know, question, but might not love it. I don't know. But it might really breathe a new sense of purpose into your life and you might find that that's what you needed. But very specifically, I talk about women wasting their time with guys that can't give them what they want. So if that's you, I would more than anything else say cut her free if it's not for you.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah. He's clearly thinking about it seriously and he needs to think about it seriously quickly.

[Carol Markowitz]

Absolutely. Thank you for joining me on the Carol Markowitz Show. She is Mary Kathryn Hamm. She is Fantastic. Check us on normally. Watch her on FOX news. Thank you so much, Mary Katherine.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Thank you.

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[Carol Markowitz]

Welcome back to the Carol Markowitz show on iHeartRadio. My guest today is Greg Easterbrook. Greg is the author of 14 books, including It's Better Than It Looks, which shows the condition of the world is steadily improving. Also has a weekly substack at all predictions wrong. So nice to have you on Greg.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Thanks Carol. Good to be here.

[Carol Markowitz]

So you have 14 books and your most recent one is about how things aren't as bad as they may seem. How did you come up with that?

[Greg Easterbrook]

I've actually been writing about that topic for several decades. If you looked at social statistics about the United States, trends in violence and pollution, longevity, discrimination, things that you can measure objectively. In most cases, they started improving around the time that I was born, which was sadly long ago, but they've improved a lot in the last 30 years. Of course, I'm not arguing that things are fine. There's a lot of improvement and reform needed. But we have so much less pollution in the United States than we used to, so much less discrimination. Most rates and incidence of diseases are in long term decline. Longevity has increased every year except the COVID year. And we've always our material prosperity has increased. Per capita income. If you stated in current dollars, per capita income has gotten steadily higher, including in the middle class. You hear people say, oh, the middle class is being hollowed up. The middle class lives significantly better today than it did a generation ago. And those are unfashionable ideas. An interviewer once asked me what people react to negatively in my writing and I said what I say that makes people angry is I'm an optimist. For some reason this makes people angry, especially in the New York City environment that you just heard. The only thing that's politically correct is to feel despair and anxiety. The world is ending and and if you say no, actually things are getting better and yeah, we need reform, but in the main we're a lot better off than we used to be. That makes people angry.

[Carol Markowitz]

Weirdly enough, makes you unpopular.

[Greg Easterbrook]

In my case, my popularity has been fine, but I certainly wouldn't be welcome at the Council on Foreign Relations.

[Carol Markowitz]

Why do you think people imagine that their lives are worse and the world is worse? Why do they think things are worse than ever before?

[Greg Easterbrook]

There's a couple of reasons human beings are prone to self pity. And saying, oh, I'll never live as well as my grandparents did is a form of self pity. Even if your grandparents would change places with you in a heartbeat, if only to get modern health care. People are prone to self pity. You mythologize the past and think it was much better than it was. You ask me. Well, boy, the past things. Everybody had it so good. Well, yeah, think about the 1950s. Think about the 1950s when blacks couldn't ride buses and you could be thrown in jail for being gay. And prosperity, and again in current dollars, was about 20% of what it is today. You'd really like to go back and live in that time, but people's knowledge of the past, even the recent past, is slight.

[Carol Markowitz]

Rose colored glasses.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Yeah, it's rose colored glasses. And it's also the relentless negativism of the mainstream media and the two political parties. And Trump is as guilty as this as the Democrats. You remember Trump's American carnage speech and the day he said American carnage crime had fallen for like 20 years in a row. The Democratic Party in all of its recent presidential elections has tried to talk America down, down, down, so bad, so awful, so racist, so sexist. And you go out on the street and you see racism and sexism are a fraction of what they once were. But the elites don't want to say that. The elites think scaring you brings them more money and power. And sadly, they're right about that. Scaring you does bring them more money and power. So we get this endless diet of this stuff.

[Carol Markowitz]

So what could be done? How do you get the message out that things are getting better all the time?

[Greg Easterbrook]

Well, I've long said. My point about this is long. If you and I started a publication called Consensus Today, nobody would buy it because what they're buying is scare tactics. You got to say, if you're thinking simply in terms of the free market, the free market seems to like scare tactics. That's what it's willing to pay for. These news channels that people tune in are the channels that present scare tactics. You don't have to. You don't have to watch CNN or Fox News and then PBS and Watch a classical music concert. That's not what you do. What you do is you watch the channels that are selling scare tactics. The same is true with publishers and many others that people have to stop being. Being eager customers for the doomsday view if they want the behavior of the media, especially to change.

[Carol Markowitz]

Did you get into writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

[Greg Easterbrook]

I did. I'm relatively rare. It was my youthful ambition. I'm relatively rare in someone who's actually accomplished his youthful ambition. We could talk about that more in a second. But yes, I always wanted to be a writer, and I'm glad I did it.

[Carol Markowitz]

So do most people not succeed in their youthful ambitions? I guess is the follow up to that. Because I always wanted to be a writer too. My parents said, don't be crazy. Nobody's a writer. They were immigrants from the Soviet Union. They definitely didn't want a starving artist child. Were your parents supportive and what do you mean by the youthful ambition part?

[Greg Easterbrook]

Well, my parents were kind of neutral on this because I put myself through college. I always looked after myself. My parents were fine, loving people, but they kind of had nothing to do with my career choices. I think you can find an awful lot of people who. And you say, I want to be a great musician, I want to be a ballerina. And they end up working in Starbucks. And I'm glad that my youthful ambition was realized, at least at some level. I'm actually still working on it, but because I have some unpublished. Just good luck getting 14 books out.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. I have one and I'm done, I think.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Right. Well, I have two completed books that are not published yet. And then I'm arguing with publishers about. So I'm far from finished with this quest.

[Carol Markowitz]

Is there a theme through your 14 books?

[Greg Easterbrook]

I gotta say, Carol, I've bounced all over the map. I've written some books that are serious public policy analysis. I wrote a book about Christian theology. I've written, published three literary novels. And numbers four and five are coming. And to put our kids through college, I wrote about sports. So my agent has been telling me our entire time together that the way you make money as an author is to pick one subject and write about it endlessly. And I'm sure he's right about that. But. But I've written about whatever's on my mind and. And done. Okay. And it keeps your brain fresh when you. When you write about what's on your mind that day.

[Carol Markowitz]

Absolutely. Yeah. And I hate that. I hate the pick. Pick a lane and just, Just think about this all the time and write about this. And this is your, you know, this is what you do and this is what people know you as. I, you know, people are multifaceted. They have all kinds of things that they want to say to the world. And. Yeah, I'm glad you're not following that advice to pick a lane and just do one thing. Do you have something that you wish you had written about but didn't feel like it was your lane?

[Greg Easterbrook]

No, actually, no. Everything that I've, every topic that I've chosen was my choice and I've been happy with. Like I said, I have two books that are done and not yet published. So immense frustration over that. But those books say what I want them to say and, and that part of my career has worked out pretty well.

[Carol Markowitz]

So if it hadn't worked out, if your childhood ambition hadn't come to fruition, what would have been the plan B?

[Greg Easterbrook]

I'm not sure. I admire the professions. Engineering, law, medicine. I never felt drawn to them when I was young, especially when I was trying to save money to get back into college. I worked as a bus driver and a used car salesman. I'm glad I'm not a bus driver or a used car salesman today, but I'm very proud to say that I'm a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. You have to be elected to that. And when you go to their website and look at these tremendously accomplished people who have chairs at Ivy League universities and have won great prizes all around the world, then you look at my bio. Self employed, was a bus driver and a used car salesman. But I'm actually kind of proud of that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, I mean, I think that that's, it's unusual and it got you to where you are, I feel like. And more than ever, people are recognizing that things like, that having jobs like that are actually super helpful in other fields that we don't want. People who have no life experience at all. I can think of a handful of politicians that, that would describe taking that path and, you know, going from the no life experience at all to either being in charge of us or telling us what we're supposed to be doing more.

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[Variety Podcast Host]

There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Variety Podcast Host]

Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co Editor in Chief Cynthia Littleton.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

[Variety Podcast Host]

Open your free iHeartradio app, search daily Variety and listen now.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? Business software is expensive and when you buy software from lots of different companies, it's not only expensive, it gets confusing. Slow to use, hard to integrate. Odoo solves that because all Odoo software is connected on a single, affordable platform. Save money without missing out on the features you need. Odoo has no hidden costs and no limit on features or data. Odoo has over 60 apps available for any needs your business might have, all at no additional charge. Everything from websites to sales to inventory to accounting. All linked and talking to each other. Check out Odoo at O D O o dot com. That's O D O o dot com.

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[Carol Markowitz]

What do you worry about?

[Greg Easterbrook]

I I I worry Carol. I have two words. I have a national worry for the United States and an international word for the world. My national worry for the United States is our debt cycle. I think I know that debt is a gloomy topic and people say, well look, we've been borrowing money hand over fist. Nothing's gone wrong. Yeah, but boy, where is it going to lead? The shocking statistic is that the United States again, if you adjust to current dollars, the United States has borrowed more money in the last 15 years than it borrowed in the previous 225 years combined, or 255, 245 years, I guess. No, 235 years combined. That's the right number.

[Carol Markowitz]

I was told to be no math.

[Greg Easterbrook]

It's amazing how much money we've borrowed. We've gotten away with it so far. It's not going to last, it's not sustainable. There's going to be a reckoning for all that borrowing. And with the exception of the COVID year, the borrowing has occurred when things were basically normal, right? When the economy was outputting pretty good, when people unemployment was low. In other words, it wasn't an emergency and we've borrowed money anyway and it's not going to last forever and we're not going to be happy when it ends.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm very afraid of that issue because I feel like we've lost that argument. Also I care very much about our spending and our borrowing and all of that. And I just feel like there's nobody to argue with anymore. There's nobody to tell that to anymore. Even people on the right who used to kind of agree with me just, just. It doesn't matter anymore. Ann Coulter described national debt as the similar to what the left does on climate change. Like, oh, it's going to be real bad any minute now. It's going to be real bad any minute now.

[Greg Easterbrook]

That's a good point.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, but how do we convey to people what it will actually be like?

[Greg Easterbrook]

But nobody wants to deal with this. And the pressure points are coming on Social Security and Medicare. Social Security runs out of money in 2033. The day before this happens, everyone in Congress will say they were never warned and had no way of knowing. At the very least Social Security, Medicare. Each year that we put off reform, the problem gets worse, right? Deal with it now. It'll be better, less bad than if we deal with it at 3 o' clock in the morning in 2033, which is how Congress is going to deal with it.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's how they're going to do it, right? We can make that prediction right here, right now. That's how it's going to be. I had some hope that Elon, I really, I know maybe it sounds naive, but Elon Musk gave me some hope that there was going to be actual changes. And him being so despondent and disappointed in our government showed me that nothing is going to change.

[Greg Easterbrook]

That's because even the right wing wouldn't support him.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Greg Easterbrook]

The right wing in the House of Representatives is not in any way serious about debt. They just want to borrow, borrow, borrow. They're indistinguishable. People say there's no bipartisanship in Washington. Total bipartisan agreement on borrowing more and being irresponsible. Both parties do it. Now. The thing that I worry about for the larger world, most trends are going pretty well. The reduction of poverty, especially in Asia, on the global scale in the last 25 years is just phenomenal. It's one of the best thing that's ever happened to the human family. And most Americans don't even know that it's occurred. So I'm pretty happy about that. I think environmental trends are mainly positive. I think global warming is real. It's been proven, but it's nowhere near the threat that people make it out to be. What worries me is that there are still 11,000 nuclear bombs in the world. Someday one of those damn things is going to go off. And we're on the precipice of the main nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russian Federation expires in February. And there's no sign that either side is trying to. We knew it. There's no sign that we're trying to bring the Chinese into that treaty. Chinese building nuclear bombs like crazy now. There are fewer nuclear bombs in the world than before. The treaties between Washington and Moscow, that's been positive, but there's still way too. There's plenty to eliminate human life, human beings. Yeah. Most people who run big countries are rational. They know that using a nuclear bomb is suicide. But not everybody who runs a big country is rational. All one. And then the human family will be no more. And we're not doing anything about it. Much more concerned about cracker barrel than 11,000 nuclear warheads.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's funny because as you say this, I mean, not that I forgot that there's a nuclear war threat, but, you know, it's sort of in the background. Cracker Barrel is in the news. I mean, the old man in the Cracker Barrel logo has been, you know, front and center and. And the nuclear threat is very, very, very in the shadows and in the background of our concerns. I know people used to be asked, what do you worry about? Nuclear war would be number one. But I think that hasn't been the case in a very, very long time. I was gonna say, how do you think people should think about it? Should they be pressuring their governments to do more to have these treaties? Yes, especially what should the average person do.

[Greg Easterbrook]

You think? There's nothing I can do about this. There is something that I can do about this. You can lobby your members of Congress and the White House to renew the treaty between the United States and Russian Federation. It's not a panacea, but it prevents right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Because it also makes me think like if they're irrational, if it's an irrational leader, what are they going to care about the treaty?

[Greg Easterbrook]

Well, so far the US Washington and Moscow have observed that we're on the fourth nuclear arms control treaty and all four of them have been strenuously observed by both parties. I think there's embedded wisdom in Washington and Moscow and I think there's no wisdom in these cities. There is some. And one of the wisdoms is we were right on the brink of obliterating the world and we were able to step back from that brink by observing the treaties. So I think there's a lot of sentiment in both capitals for continuing to observe the treaty and there must be sentiment in both Beijing for entering into the treaty and observing the same rules. But we got leaders have to be pressured to do this and we're certainly not. There's nothing going on in Congress right now to pressure Trump to renew the treaty.

[Carol Markowitz]

It just seems like a lot of other things going on. I didn't even realize, you know, I think that I haven't seen any news at all about the treaty expiring and.

[Greg Easterbrook]

11,000 strategic nuclear warheads in the world. That's fewer than there used to be. But studies show that you really only need a couple hundred of them to go off to pretty much end human life. Because of the nuclear, nuclear winter. There would be crops would fail all over the even if you weren't in the place where one of the bombs went off, crops would fail globally for a decade and how many people would still be alive at the end of that? And so I don't mean to sound like a doomsday type.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, you're a little bit like a doomsday. I'm not going to sleep tonight, Greg.

[Greg Easterbrook]

And this I don't worry for a minute that global warming is going to kill us. Even though, as I say it is a real problem. I do worry that nuclear war will kill us. And so there's the doomsday part of my personality.

[Carol Markowitz]

Well, as you look back on your life, what advice would you give your 16 year old self? What does 16 year old Greg need to know about his future?

[Greg Easterbrook]

Here's what I would have told 16 year old Greg. As we mentioned, my youthful ambition was to be a writer. And I've accomplished It. But my main ambition was to be a fiction writer, to write serious literary fiction. And I didn't start. And I have published three serious literary novels, great reviews in the New York Times. And so I've gotten farther than most professors of creative writing ever get. But I didn't start till I was 40. And I would tell my youthful self, start right away, don't wait till you're 40. Hemingway, remember Hemingway started as a journalist and then he went to, went into serious fiction. And he said later, if you're, if you're in journalism when you're young, there's no problem. You'll help learn the craft of writing. But you've gotta quit journalism by the time you're 30 or it will suck you in and pull you down. And he was pretty, you know, in my case, I've done journalism for the Atlantic Monthly, which is pretty, pretty high on the status poll, but still, it does kind of suck you in and pull you down. And we was right about that. So I would tell my young self to switch to fiction, only much younger than I actually did.

[Carol Markowitz]

There's definitely the instant gratification with doing news of the day and, you know, things that aren't pressing and matter today and going to expire by tomorrow. Especially with our one day news cycles, I could see where the journalism would absolutely take over the fiction. I have trouble even writing my substacks because it's not news of the day. It's not happening right this second. It doesn't have to be out, out immediately.

[Greg Easterbrook]

So, girl, I'll tell you a great anecdote about that Atlantic Monthly. I worked for a sainted editor named Bill Whitworth, who was a great guy who passed away a year and a half ago. And this would have, this would have been maybe 1990. I'm sitting there with Bill, we're looking at recent issues of Atlantic Monthly and I say, bill, I don't know this, this magazine's pretty light on current events. This is all about things that happened in the 19th century for literary writers or dance companies. Where's the current events? Bill said, I don't want any current events on the Atlantic Monthly. My goal is to produce a magazine that you could put the copies into the attic, find them 25 years later and still be interested. So after Bill died, I went up to the attic above me, got out the box of magazines from that year and they were still interesting 25 years later.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's amazing. Evergreen the kids call it, right?

[Greg Easterbrook]

Yeah, but that's the goal you go for in literary fiction or serious playwriting. You want something that will be of interest and of value regardless of what's happening in the news.

[Carol Markowitz]

Well, I've loved this conversation. I love getting to know you. I've followed you on Twitter and then X for many, many years. Leave us here with your best tip for my listeners on how they can improve their lives.

[Greg Easterbrook]

I once wrote an article for the Atlantic called Selfish Reasons to Become a Better Person. And the thrust of that article was the things your grandmother told you to do. Be grateful, to be alive. Be optimistic. Be forgiving. We think of those things as virtue, actually. They're good for you. They improve your own life. To be grateful, optimistic and forgiving, yeah, makes you a better person, but it improves your experience of life. Also, there's a fair amount of data in psychology that backs that up. So my main advice would be don't be angry at the world. Don't be cynical. Don't be anxious. Yeah, you're gonna have moments like this. But in general, you should be optimistic, grateful, and you should forgive others.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love that. Thank you so much, Greg Easterbrook. Check out his book. It's Better Than it Looks. Thanks so much, Greg, for coming on.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Thanks, girl.

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Stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with the ultra durable LG Boom portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights because, let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG XBoom and for a limited time, save [e-mail] with code fall25. Bring the boom XBoom.

[Variety Podcast Host]

There's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives.

[Greg Easterbrook]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Variety Podcast Host]

Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co editor in chief Cynthia Littleton.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

[Variety Podcast Host]

Open your free iHeartradio app, search daily Variety, and listen now.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out [e-mail] that's O D O O.com hey, what's up? It's Mario Lopez. Back to school is an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming and kids may feel isolated, a vulnerability that human traffickers can exploit. Human trafficking doesn't always look like what you expect. Everyday moments can become opportunities for someone with bad intentions, whether you're a parent, teacher, coach, or neighbor. Check in, ask questions, stay connected. Blue Campaign is a national awareness initiative that provides resources to help recognize suspected instances of human trafficking. Learn the signs and how to [e-mail] blue campaign.

[Greg Easterbrook]

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[Greg Easterbrook]

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[Greg Easterbrook]

Experience the Confident Clean of Little Dude Wipes available exclusively at Walmart nationwide.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

This is an I heart podcast.