Home Podcasts How To! with Mike Pesca
How To! with Mike Pesca

How To! with Mike Pesca

Peach Fish Projects 391 Episodes Aug 18, 2026

You've got questions. We find answers. We all need advice, but it's not always clear who to ask. Each week, Mike Pesca invites a listener on the show to tackle a real problem, like protecting our elderly loved ones from scammers, emigrating as a throuple, and speaking without saying "um" - all with help from world-class experts: attorneys, doctors, entrepreneurs, authors, researchers - who actually know what they're talking about. Think of it as eavesdropping on someone else's therapy session, without the co-pay or awkward silence.

Episodes

How to Bounce Back From Injury
How to Bounce Back From Injury Aug 18, 2026 00:36:46 Jami's dealt with chronic knee instability and dislocations since childhood, two major surgeries, years of tedious rehab. Now she wants to actually trust her body again before starting a family, not just tolerate it. She talks to Tom Morrison, a mobility coach who thinks most people rehab wrong: too much isolating single muscles in a gym, not enough moving joints through their full range the way r
How to Improve Cyclists' Safety from Dangerous Non-Cyclists' Behavior
How to Improve Cyclists' Safety from Dangerous Non-Cyclists' Behavior Aug 11, 2026 00:42:41 Amateur cyclist and university associate professor Wendy loves riding her bike with her young son and local road group, but aggressive drivers, close calls, and a deep-seated hostility toward cyclists leave her fearing for their safety on the road. Enter Meredith Glaser, CEO of the Urban Cycling Institute and professor of cycling at Ghent University, who advocates for shifting away from defensive
How To Stop Being an Emotional ATM
How To Stop Being an Emotional ATM Aug 4, 2026 00:26:33 Last week, our expert Arthur Brooks gave us some surefire advice for resetting the parent-child relationship so your kids don't treat you like an emotional ATM. On this episode of How To!, he's going to teach our listener, Karen, how to balance the books, so to speak, by taking some withdrawals of her own. He has some surprising tips for how to restrain yourself from swooping in to save the day wh
How to Get Your Kids to Take Good Risks
How to Get Your Kids to Take Good Risks Jul 28, 2026 00:33:47 Today on How To!, Freddy, a physician, scientist, and father, struggles with how to mentor his 12-year-old daughter, who prefers her safe comfort zone and strongly resists new experiences, travel, or unfamiliar foods. Host Mike Pesca brings on stand-up comedian and Parenting is a Joke podcast host Ophira Eisenberg to discuss strategies for nudging risk-averse kids to embrace uncertainty without ov
How to Feel Good in Your Clothes
How to Feel Good in Your Clothes Jul 21, 2026 00:34:08 Today on How To!, Michael, a retired FDNY captain who used to rely on a uniform every day, finds himself staring blankly into his closet and canceling dates because he does not know how to dress. Host Mike Pesca brings on Tavia Sharp, an executive image and personal brand strategist and founder of Styled Sharp, to help Michael navigate post-retirement style, move past 1990s baggy clothing trends,
How to Hire Someone and Be a Good Boss
How to Hire Someone and Be a Good Boss Jul 14, 2026 00:36:09 Comedian and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! panelist Paula Poundstone splits her time among a grueling tour schedule and a chaotic home life, but she wants to find the focus necessary to manage her household staff and stop letting her deep aversion to conflict ruin her business. Enter Nedra Glover Tawwab, relationship expert and author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace, who advocates for establishing ext
How To Keep Cool in a Crisis
How To Keep Cool in a Crisis Jul 7, 2026 00:30:09 Originally Aired on Oct 12, 2021 On this episode of How To!, the second in a two part-series, Dan Christensen, a bus driver in Portland, Oregon, and Matt Smith, a crisis intervention trainer and the co-founder of Aegis Training Solutions, are back to teach you what to do when a fight is already underway. Dan talks about his experience with the 2017 Portland train attack that left two people dead.
How Constraints Make Us More Creative
How Constraints Make Us More Creative Jun 30, 2026 00:33:47 Ofra splits her time among a number of hobbies in her retirement, but she wants to stop feeling rudderless and find the focus necessary to write a book of observational humor based on her twenty-year career as a psychotherapist. Enter David Epstein, workplace researcher and author of Inside the Box, who advocates for creating artificial structure and imposing concrete deadlines rather than falling
Should I Choose Passion or a Stable Job?
Should I Choose Passion or a Stable Job? Jun 23, 2026 00:38:02 India splits her time between contract production and agency work, but she wants to stop prioritizing other people's projects to scale her personal brand. Enter Simone Stolzoff, workplace researcher and author of The Good Enough Job, who advocates for building a multi-pronged freelance career rather than recklessly burning your ships. He introduces India to an evaluation rubric for vetting new bus
How To Make New Friends as an Adult
How To Make New Friends as an Adult Jun 16, 2026 00:32:27 Steven racks up acquaintances on group mountain bike rides, but he cannot turn a casual trailhead hello into a real friendship. For decades he coasted on the built-in connections of being in a band, working in a lab, and having a wife who did the social legwork. But now he needs to make some new friends. Enter Dr. Marisa G. Franco, University of Maryland professor and New York Times bestselling au
Beating Yourself Up? The 10-Second Play That Outsmarts Your Inner Critic
Beating Yourself Up? The 10-Second Play That Outsmarts Your Inner Critic Jun 11, 2026 00:18:29 This week we're sharing a special episode from our friends at Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin — the Webby Award–winning podcast hosted by psychotherapist and mental strength trainer Amy Morin, whose TEDx talk has been viewed more than 25 million times and whose books have sold over a million copies in more than fifty languages. Every week, Amy shares a practical, research-backed mental
How To Ditch Your Distractions Once and For All
How To Ditch Your Distractions Once and For All Jun 9, 2026 00:31:57 There's one thing that all of Helena's personal projects have in common: they remain unfinished. The family photo album is empty, as is her mom's recipe book. And the lavender garden is still unplanted. Helena is not lazy. In fact, she's a busy lawyer who has no problem finishing tasks at the office. But she's also a busy mother raising a family, and free time is hard to come by. So how can Helena

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