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Nobody Special

Nobody Special Podcast

Somewhere along the way, "ordinary" turned into an insult. Nobody Special pushes back.

Each week, host Chris makes the case for a good, ordinary life — the kind most of us are actually living, out in the wide middle of the bell curve. Not famous. Not falling apart. Just here, and doing pretty okay. It's a calm, funny antidote to hustle culture, for anyone who's ever hit an ordinary Tuesday and quietly wondered, "is this it?" — and wants the answer to be: yeah, and that's plenty.

No gurus. No morning routines. No "crush your goals." Just short, honest episodes — about five minutes each — that take the pressure to be exceptional and let a little air out of it.

One thing to be clear about: ordinary isn't lazy. This isn't a case for doing less. It's a case for pointing everything you've got at what actually matters — the people, the craft, the quiet Tuesday — instead of at a scoreboard that never stops moving.

If you're tired of being told your life is a fixer-upper, you're in the right place.

New episodes regularly. Follow along — and go have an ordinary week. We mean that as a compliment.

Connect on Instagram @thenobodyspecialshow

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  • 7 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 3 min
  • English

Episodes 7

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  • #6
    October 12 · 4 min

    The Trip That Fell Apart

    It poured, the tent gave out, and we slept in the car — and it's one of my favorite memories on earth. Here's why. I took my kids camping on a property my own dad used to take me to — planning the perfect weekend, the perfect fire, the perfect memory. Then it rained. Not a little: the kind of downpour that pools on your tent, drips straight through, and lands your whole soaked family in the car for the night. By every measure it was a disaster. It's also the trip I look back on and laugh about — and the one that taught me the memory was never going to come from the plan going right. In this episode: The perfect family trip I had all mapped out — same land my dad brought me to as a kid How fast "a little rain in the forecast" became a soaked, fireless disaster Why the trip that fell apart is the one that stuck — and the inheritance I couldn't see until it did Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: the middle of the night, and the rain 00:43 Backing up: a family trip to a friend's property 01:31 When the rain came through 02:38 Why the disaster is the trip we remember 03:29 Your assignment: stay in the mess a second longer Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Episode 02 — The Go-Kart Next episode — Episode 07: "Enough" Connect on Instagram @thenobodyspecialshow

  • #5
    September 28 · 3 min

    In Defense of the Hobby You'll Never Monetize

    I shoot photos I'll never sell, at 4 a.m., for no money and no reason — and it might be the most valuable thing I do all week. I make my living behind a camera — and then, on my own time, I drive out before sunrise to make photographs I'll never sell. No clients, no prints, no following. This one's a defense of the hobby you'll never monetize, against the relentless pressure to turn everything you love into a side hustle. Because a thing you're allowed to be mediocre at, that doesn't have to produce anything for anyone, might be one of the last truly free things you've got. In this episode: Why "monetize your passion" quietly ruins the thing you love What a hobby is really for — the morning, not the photograph The freedom of an activity with no scoreboard, no customer, and nobody grading it Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: the thing I do for free 00:38 When every hobby became a side hustle 01:26 What photography actually gives me 02:41 The case for the useless thing 03:18 Your assignment: go do the pointless thing you love Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Episode 04 — You Are Not the Average of the Five People You Spend Time With Next episode — Episode 06: "The Trip That Fell Apart" Connect on Instagram @thenobodyspecialshow

  • #4
    September 14 · 3 min

    You Are Not the Average of the Five People You Spend Time With

    That popular line about being the average of your five closest people? It's wrong — and a little cruel. Here's a better test. "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." It's everywhere, it sounds wise, and it's quietly telling you to treat the people you love like a stock portfolio — assets and liabilities, trade up, cut the dead weight. This episode takes it apart, because you are not an average of people, and the ones who actually make your life good are almost never the most impressive in the room. Instead of auditing your friends, try a better question: who would show up? In this episode: Where the "average of five" advice comes from, and what it's really asking you to do Why it's both wrong (you're not a smoothie) and cruel (it tells you to trade away the friend who'd answer the phone at 2 a.m.) The couch test — a better way to know who your real people are Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: the quote you've seen a thousand times 00:33 Where "the average of five people" comes from 01:23 Why it isn't true 02:33 The better test: who would actually show up 03:12 Your assignment: text the least impressive person you love Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Episode 03 — Things I'm Bad At Next episode — Episode 05: "In Defense of the Hobby You'll Never Monetize" [ Connect line — add once decided: email / Instagram / voicemail ]

  • #3
    August 31 · 3 min

    Things I'm Bad At

    A cheerful, honest inventory of everything I'm deliberately terrible at — and why that might be the smartest thing I do. Golf. A clean house. Singing. I'm genuinely, measurably bad at all of them — and I've stopped trying to fix it, on purpose. This is the case for being cheerfully, deliberately mediocre at the things that don't matter, so you've got everything left for the things that do. Plus the one "flaw" the world keeps telling you to fix that might just be the truest part of you. In this episode: Why trying to be excellent at everything just leaves you exhausted and spread thin Three things I'm happily terrible at (and sing anyway) The "weakness" that's actually a strength — and what deliberate mediocrity is really protecting Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: a confession — the things I'm bad at 00:36 The pressure to be excellent at everything 01:18 The list: golf, a messy house, singing 02:24 The one I won't apologize for 03:13 Your assignment: pick something and just stop Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Episode 02 — The Go-Kart Next episode — Episode 04: "You Are Not the Average of the Five People You Spend Time With" Connect on Instagram @thenobodyspecialshow

  • #2
    August 19 · 4 min

    The Go-Kart

    My dad reached everything the world calls exceptional — then spent months of weekends building a go-kart with me. My dad played football at NC State, then in the NFL — by every measure the world cares about, he was exceptional. But the most important thing we ever did together happened in a garage, building a go-kart from raw steel that never quite got finished. This one's about ordinary time with the people we love, the patience it takes, and how we so often don't recognize the important stuff until much later. He's gone now — but I didn't tell this story to make you sad. I told it because I think you've got a garage full of afternoons like it too. In this episode: A go-kart built from nothing — raw steel, a pipe bender, and a ten-year-old learning to weld — over months of weekends What a man who made his living with his hands wanted his son to understand about what's above the shoulders Why the ordinary, unfinished, un-filmed afternoons are the ones you'd trade anything for Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: a Saturday in the garage, building a go-kart 00:43 Who my dad was — and the part you'd never guess 01:34 The build: raw steel, a welder, months of weekends 02:52 What he was actually building 04:07 He's gone now — and why this isn't a sad story Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Episode 01 — Nobody Special (And Why That's the Point) Next episode — Episode 03: "Things I'm Bad At" Connect on Instagram at @thenobodyspecialshow

  • #1
    August 3 · 5 min

    Nobody Special (And Why That's the Point)

    The case for being nobody special — and why that might be the best news you get all week. Somewhere along the way, "average" stopped being a description and became a verdict. In this first episode, I'm making the case for the opposite — that a good, ordinary, well-lived life isn't a failure state, it's where almost all of us actually live, and always did. It starts on a quiet trail in Isle Royale, staring down my 50th birthday and bracing for a gut punch that never came. No gurus, no morning routines, no "crush it." Just the argument for being nobody special, on purpose. In this episode: Why admitting you're average feels like a confession — and who trained you for that The bell-curve math the self-help world never mentions: not everyone can be above average, and chasing "exceptional" is a treadmill dressed up as a ladder What this show is, what it refuses to be, and why "Nobody Special" is a relief, not a putdown Chapters: 00:00 Cold open: staring down 50 on a trail in Isle Royale 00:56 How "average" became a verdict 02:00 The math: why chasing "exceptional" is a treadmill 03:25 You're not broken — what this show actually is 04:37 One ask, and a go-kart: next episode Enjoying the show? Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the next one turns up on its own. Links: Isle Royale National Park — https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm Next episode — Episode 02: "The Go-Kart" Connect on Instagram: @thenobodyspecialshow

  • July 29 · 1 min

    Trailer — The Case for a Good, Ordinary Life

    Is this it? The job, the house, the ordinary week that looks a lot like last week. You're supposed to hear that question and panic. This show is the opposite. Nobody Special is the case for a good, ordinary life — the kind most of us are actually living, out in the wide middle of the bell curve. Not famous. Not falling apart. Just here, and doing okay. Host Chris takes the pressure to be exceptional and lets a little air out of it, about five minutes at a time. No gurus. No morning routines. No "crush it." And to be clear: ordinary isn't lazy — it's about pointing your effort at what actually matters, instead of at a scoreboard that never stops moving. This is the 90-second version of the whole idea. If it sounds like your life, start here — then follow along. Follow Nobody Special wherever you're listening, so the first real episode turns up on its own. Connect on Instagram @thenobodyspecialshow

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