April 23, 2025
#808: Stephen West — From High School Dropout to Hit Podcast, and from Stocking Groceries to Reading Philosophy for a Living
The Tim Ferriss ShowAbout this episode
Stephen West is a father, husband, and host of the Philosophize This! podcast. Sponsors: Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses : https://gusto.com/tim (three months free) Momentous high-quality supplements: https://livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for up to 35% off) Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra) Timestamps: [00:00:00] So it begins. [00:06:11] Stephen’s challenging childhood — from San Diego to Child Protective Services. [00:07:55] How Stephen supported himself after dropping out of school at 16. [00:09:37] The physical wear and tear of warehouse work (and unexpected upsides of the job). [00:11:48] How Stephen discovered philosophy through googling “wisest person in history.” [00:14:07] Defining philosophy as a “disruption of common sense” and “gym for rethinking.” [00:16:06] The 4-Hour Workweek as a philosophical text. [00:19:27] A philosophical shift around Ralph Waldo Emerson. [00:22:18] The transition from warehouse work to starting Philosophize This! with friendly encouragement. [00:27:47] Authenticity as the secret sauce to Philosophize This! [00:32:24] The discomfort of comparing old episodes with new. [00:34:15] The current state of Philosophize This!: 225 episodes, Patreon, ads, upcoming book deal. [00:37:18] The value of focusing on content quality before monetization. [00:38:44] Most popular Philosophize This! episodes thus far. [00:40:00] Philosophize This! episodes I’d like to hear. [00:41:20] Thinking of philosophy as a verb, not a noun. [00:46:44] The concept of amor fati (love of fate) and its practical application. [00:48:41] Wittgenstein’s ladder as a metaphor for philosophical growth. [00:51:36] Stephen’s perspective on philosophy as a process rather than a set of protocols. [00:54:43] Philosophies that have personal meaning to Stephen: Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil. [00:56:40] Simone Weil’s concept of attention and self-emptying. [00:59:26] Stephen’s approach to simplicity and sacrificing efficiency for meaning. [01:04:07] Valuing time and playing the long game. [01:06:01] How philosophy lives “in the shadow” of what we give credit to (science, psychology). [01:08:31] The value of philosophy in generating better questions. [01:10:06] Stephen’s future plans: possibly writing philosophical fiction. [01:19:05] Stephen’s billboard. [01:21:41] Recommendations for getting started with philosophy. [01:24:29] Gilles Deleuze and concepts as machines. [01:26:55] Why do we believe what we believe? [01:30:40] Stephen’s evolving relationship with religion after starting as a New Atheist. [01:32:33] Exploring mysticism and religious phenomenology. [01:37:51] Parting thoughts. * For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast . For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show , please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter ( 5-Bullet Friday ) at tim.blog/friday . For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts . Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books . Follow Tim: Twitter : twitter.com/tferriss Instagram : instagram.com/timferriss YouTube : youtube.com/timferriss Facebook : facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld , Hugh Jackman , Dr. Jane Goodall , LeBron James , Kevin Hart , Doris Kearns Goodwin , Jamie Foxx , Matthew McConaughey , Esther Perel , Elizabeth Gilbert , Terry Crews , Sia , Yuval Noah Harari , Malcolm Gladwell , Madeleine Albright , Cheryl Strayed , Jim Collins , Mary Karr, Maria Popova , Sam Harris , Michael Phelps , Bob Iger , Edward Norton , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Neil Strauss , Ken Burns , Maria Sharapova , Marc Andreessen , Neil Gaiman , Neil de Grasse Tyson , Jocko Willink , Daniel Ek , Kelly Slater , Dr. Peter Attia , Seth Godin , Howard Marks , Dr. Brené Brown , Eric Schmidt , Michael Lewis , Joe Gebbia , Michael Pollan , Dr. Jordan Peterson , Vince Vaughn , Brian Koppelman , Ramit Sethi , Dax Shepard , Tony Robbins , Jim Dethmer , Dan Harris , Ray Dalio , Naval Ravikant , Vitalik Buterin , Elizabeth Lesser , Amanda Palmer , Katie Haun , Sir Richard Branson , Chuck Palahniuk , Arianna Huffington , Reid Hoffman , Bill Burr , Whitney Cummings , Rick Rubin , Dr. Vivek Murthy , Darren Aronofsky , Margaret Atwood , Mark Zuckerberg , Peter Thiel , Dr. Gabor Maté , Anne Lamott , Sarah Silverman , Dr. Andrew Huberman , and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .