5-Bullet Friday — Notes on Being a Man, Surprising Superfoods, Hypnotic Music, and More

"There are times when the world is rearranging itself, and at times like that, the right words can change the world."  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

5-Bullet Friday   The latest from author and investor Tim Ferriss   Hi All!   Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what I'm pondering and exploring.   This edition is brought to you by Coyote the card game, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens. It just won the Pop Insider "Best Geeky Game" of 2025 and also "Best Stocking Filler" in the MadeForMums Toy Awards 2025 (UK). If you have any kids or relatives aged 10–15, it's a game of thinking fast and laughing faster. Think charades + hot potato + brain fun. Buy it here or see the P.S. for more.   What I'm listening to "Echos" by Metsa. From the description: "Metsa's new album 'Echos' is a ceremonial album weaving traditional ikaros with cross-cultural sound. It blends Quechua-Lamista and Shipibo tonalities with Native American and West African influences." ​ I absolutely love Metsa's music, and it's a family affair. Start with Track 1 "Mariri" here. I could listen to it on repeat for hours. For those of you who occasionally sip South American tea, you might appreciate Track 3 "Muraray". How many plants do you recognize? If you love it, buy an album and support the artist. I did. ​ Last but not least, you can also see a live performance on Zoom and get free singing instruction on November 9th here. ¡Ándale!   What is on my mind "Advice for Young Men Who Are Feeling Lost." This is a blog post with writing from Scott Galloway's upcoming book, Notes on Being a Man. I heard Scott present a few weeks ago, and it hit very close to home. We are sitting on a tinderbox and need to address the elephant in the room: young men need help. ​ In high school, I won the lottery by chancing upon one coach whose influence saved me from the fates of many of my male friends: jail, overdoses, DUI deaths, and more. Ever since, I've searched for ways that we might nudge young men (including 20s, 30s) towards optimism and better lives. Left unaddressed, the potential for violence and societal disaster is also high. Testosterone and aggression will go somewhere, so best to channel it. ​ I'm hoping Scott's book will act as a virtual mentor for young men who are feeling lost, stuck, angry, or despondent about the future. Here is the sample chapter.   What I'm reading and experimenting with "The history of Neurospora crassa in fermented foods." Yes, this is a weird one, and it's actually a fascinating read. Too busy to read? Take a peek at the below macros from the linked article, which are hard to believe: ​ The above is on a dryweight basis, but even per 100 hydrated grams, Neurospora crassa contains: ​ More fiber than oats (fungal polysaccharides, including substantial β-glucans). More protein than eggs. More iron and zinc than beef. More potassium than bananas. Not to mention spermidine and other goodies with longevity implications. ​ But let me back up.​ ​ ​Humans need protein. And while I am an investor in companies like Maui Nui Venison, which sells the most nutritionally dense meat you can buy in the US, it's ultra-premium. I eat it every week, but it doesn't scale to billions of people. And our current solution—factory farming—is an ethical and ecological disaster. So what to do? I've been tracking The Better Meat Co (BMC) for perhaps two years, and I recently invested. Their "protein brewery" mycoprotein, Rhiza, was recently selected as one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 and is FDA GRAS ("Generally Recognized As Safe"). The production is innovative, and their approach is super novel: the production of N. Crassa biomass for itself, not as a fermenting agent. But what first caught my attention was that N. Crassa has been used by humans for centuries. ​ ​Sidebar—Better Meat Co. is actually B2B and doesn't sell to individual consumers, so I'm not selling you anything. I'm just excited and consuming it myself. I'll tell you later how I wrangled a few bags for subscribers, but this isn't a sales page. Now back to this long-ass bullet… ​ ​I've tried most plant-based proteins and "alt meats," and they tend to be incomplete, highly processed and full of crap, hard to digest, or cost-prohibitive. Rhiza's PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score) is 0.92 on a scale of 0–1, or roughly on par with chicken/fish/beef. Rhiza ferments in hours—less than 2.5% of the time it takes to produce chicken—and is incredibly cost-effective. For my first-ever chowdown, I cooked a heaping pan-full and ate it in 10 minutes to push the GI envelope. No issues whatsoever, and it actually sauteed up and tasted something like taco meat. ​ So what's the B2B business model? Meat companies use Rhiza granules to enhance their meats (better nutrition, better texture), and baked goods companies use the Rhiza flour to add protein and fiber to their products (nutrition bars, tortillas, crusts, etc.). If you're a food company, you can contact them here. ​ ​But how can you personally try some? It will come as a dry powder in a vacuum-sealed bag and look shady as f*ck. I'm currently mixing it into my shakes. If I can hit my fiber numbers without spiking glucose, and if the spermidine gives me a little extra autophagy, I'm double thrilled. I asked the CEO, Paul Shapiro, if he could mail out 20 of these one-pound bags to 5BF subscribers, and he agreed. For Better Meat Co. to find you, you just need to put up a post tagging them on LinkedIn (here's their profile) by 5 p.m. PT this Sunday, Oct 26. ​ There is no other way to get this stuff as an individual consumer. BMC will randomly pick 20 folks by EOD Tuesday and direct-message the winners to get you your bags o' mycelial delight.   Quote I'm pondering because of bullet #2 "It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him." ​— John Steinbeck​ ​(Click here to share on X.)   Another quote I'm pondering for the same reason "There are times when the world is rearranging itself, and at times like that, the right words can change the world." ​― Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game​ ​(Click here to share on X.) You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with my brand-new interview with comic book legend Frank Miller, plus the return of the lion tracker and ace storyteller, Boyd Varty. ​ And, as always, please give me feedback on X. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it. ​ Have a wonderful weekend, all. ​ Much love to you and yours, ​ Tim ​ P.S. Need a little break from the serious stuff? Coyote is an award-winning card game that's hot potato + charades + a test of wits. Just keep the beat and sabotage your friends to win! Buy it here. ​​ ​- POCKET-SIZED - Play anywhere! This deck of 66 cards is the perfect stocking stuffer for kids, nieces, nephews, and anyone who likes pocket-sized fun. ​- EASY TO LEARN - Learn in minutes and jump right in. Coyote turns even the quietest person into a performer and the most competitive player into a giggling mess. ​- MORE THAN HILARIOUS - Coyote is silly family fun that makes you think. ​- FAMILY-FRIENDLY - Perfect for families with kids aged 10–15 or adults who are kids at heart. 3–8 players. ​- INFINITE REPLAYABILITY - Every game is different; no two games are the same. Play competitively or cooperatively and escalate the action with "coyote" cards until you're the last person standing… or you win or lose as a team. ​- MAKE IT YOUR OWN - There are blank cards, so you can create your own "family rules" with laugh-out-loud additions. This customizability makes Coyote a family favorite. Forwarded this message? Sign up here. Join millions of monthly readers. Get exclusive content, private Q&As, giveaways, and more. No spam, ever. Just great stuff.   Sign Up   Listen to The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts  on many occasions.     Podcasts   Apple Podcasts   Overcast   Spotify   Tim's Blog Read Tim's Books     Amazon   Audible  B & N   Tim's Blog Follow Tim: DO NOT REPLY HERE: Due to volume, please do not reply to this email. Sadly we are unable to read 1000+ email replies daily. To reply to Tim, please do so in the blog comments here.   No longer want these emails?  Unsubscribe 3​11​2 Win​dso​r R​d., Box #UNS, Austin TX 78703, United States   ​