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The Problem With...

The Problem With...

By: James Smith
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The Problem With… isn’t here to give easy answers - it’s here to ask the uncomfortable questions behind today’s biggest trends and taboos. Each week, host James Smith digs into what’s really going on - from AI to wellness culture - through unfiltered chats with experts and insiders to uncover the truth behind the noise.720232 Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Problem With Running A Small Business: Diren Kartal

    The Problem With Running A Small Business: Diren Kartal
    Jun 23 2026
    Diren Kartal joins James Smith for an honest, often hilarious conversation about what running a small business actually does to you once the money is coming in but the freedom isn't. Diren is a personal trainer and Turkey's number one fitness coach with over 1.2 million followers, and despite bringing in hundreds of thousands a year he can't shake the feeling that none of it sticks. Together they unpick the tax trap that's bleeding British high-earners dry, the brutal "valley of death" stage of scaling, his secret ADHD diagnosis, and why the two of them keep eyeing the exits to Australia, Dubai and Turkey. 👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith 🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith 📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business 🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com Diren Kartal's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/DirenKartal Diren Kartal On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/diren.kartal/ He explains: ◼️ Why he can earn hundreds of thousands a year and still not feel a penny of it ◼️ The HENRY trap, and why earning over 100k in the UK can quietly leave you worse off ◼️ The secret ADHD diagnosis and meds that finally turned the noise off and let him focus ◼️ Why the rich borrow against their assets instead of selling, and never pay the tax ◼️ Why short-form scrolling left him "depressed and disgusted" and long form is the real comeback Chapters: 00:00 The Problem With Running A Small Business 01:25 Bringing In Hundreds Of Thousands And Feeling Nothing 01:52 HENRY: High Earner, Not Rich Yet 03:21 The Cost Of Living In London Right Now 04:07 Every Tax Under The Sun 05:25 Why The Shops Keep Shutting Down 06:27 Business Rates Are The Real Killer 07:39 Going All-In And How Tough It's Been 07:56 Is AI A Disruptor Or A Distraction? 09:00 Why AI Still Can't Replace The Human Bit 10:27 The Real Reason People Stopped Posting 11:58 Living It vs Looking Like You're Living 12:51 The Steven Bartlett Problem 14:19 Being Unapologetically Yourself 15:10 Short Form Is Dying, Long Form Is Back 17:00 The Will Kennedy Trust Lesson 18:03 The Diren Kartal Experience 20:27 Thinking Fast And Slow: Give Him An A-Task 22:00 Why Men Talk Shoulder To Shoulder 23:54 The Front End Is Easy, The Back End Breaks You 25:36 Long-Term Memory, Terrible Short-Term Memory 26:23 The Pressure Nobody Warns You About 27:45 You Don't Want Your Son To See You Fail 28:28 Council Estate Vibes And The Fear Of Going Back 29:25 Getting The Psych Test 30:25 Six Months On ADHD Meds 32:20 Manufacturing Stress To Motivate Yourself 34:30 Is There A Real Return On The Meds? 35:35 Escaping The Desk Job To Build Another One 36:53 The 150 Grand Website Regret 37:50 Australia Is Bad, The UK Is Worse 40:04 289,000 Businesses Set To Fail This Year 41:20 Boomers Hate To Hear How Good They Had It 43:50 Why Earning More Can Leave You With Less 45:12 Your Favourite Part Of Britain Is Leaving It 46:23 Do The Elites Just Find The Loopholes? 47:04 Stop Making The Top Earners Feel Like Villains 49:05 Why Hating Landlords Makes No Sense 51:32 How Politicians Punish The Young To "Help" Them 53:16 Will He Stay In Australia? 53:43 How The Rich Borrow Against Assets And Pay No Tax 55:01 The Stuff They Never Teach You In School 56:17 The Money Chat That Changed Everything 57:43 The Valley Of Death: 12 To 30 Employees Is Hell 58:38 If He Did It Again He'd Stay Small 59:06 We're Both Hypocrites About Debt 01:00:17 Tripling The Money As An Investor 01:02:20 The Adapt Story And Building A Brand With Mates 01:04:26 What's Missing From Jiu Jitsu 01:07:28 Just Wanting To Look Good On The Mats 01:08:35 Taking The Piss Out Of Jiu Jitsu Culture 01:09:06 Becoming The Joe Wicks Of Turkey 01:10:47 Should You Get Assessed For ADHD? 01:11:33 Meds, Music And Feeling Like You're On Psychedelics 01:12:36 Raising A Son Without The Noise 01:13:23 Wrapping Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • The Problem With Splitting The Difference: Chris Voss

    The Problem With Splitting The Difference: Chris Voss
    Jun 16 2026
    👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith 🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith 📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business 🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com Chris Voss's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@NegotiationMastery⁩ Chris Voss On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thefbinegotiator/ Chris Voss joins James Smith for a masterclass on the psychology of negotiation, trust, and getting what you want without ever splitting the difference. A former FBI hostage negotiator and the bestselling author of Never Split the Difference, Voss breaks down why most people negotiate badly, how loss aversion quietly runs the room, and why the goal is never to win the moment but to build something that lasts. He explains: ◼️ Why splitting the difference leaves everyone feeling cheated ◼️ How to catch a liar off guard and then get them to tell the truth ◼️ Why predictability, not charm, is what actually builds trust ◼️ The grocery store move that turns a stranger into an ally ◼️ Why walking away only works when you genuinely mean it Chapters: 00:00 The Problem With Splitting the Difference 02:23 Why We Overreact to Loss 03:26 The Emotions You're Born With 03:59 Loss Aversion, Jiu Jitsu and the Submission 05:20 Catching Liars in Their Own Web 06:14 How a Polygraph Really Works 08:01 Shu Ha Ri and the Art of Mastery 10:34 Sending Students Into the Wild to Practice 11:15 The Three Commodities in Every Negotiation 12:36 The Broccoli Sprouts Masterclass 13:30 Priming and the Power of Pattern Interrupt 15:10 Why Using Someone's Name Defuses Violence 18:33 The Hardest Part Isn't Catching the Lie 20:25 Short Term Loss vs The Loss That Kills You 22:32 Why Entrepreneurs Make Weak Negotiators 23:18 How to Actually Ask Your Boss for a Raise 26:03 The Hidden Power of Deference 27:21 The Sales Tricks That Have Been Weaponised 29:49 Why Honest Sellers Win More Deals 31:33 Predictability Is Trust in Disguise 33:15 Inside the Black Swan Community 35:47 Buying a Car With Empathy Instead of Ego 37:19 Is Walking Away a Skill or a Bluff? 40:29 Relationships Are Ongoing Negotiations 42:17 Never Be So Sure You'd Miss Something Better 44:50 Cadence, Silence and Sounding Important 46:08 Using Humour to Disarm a Cold Room 48:25 Deactivating Fear Instead of Fighting It 50:10 Negotiation, Dating and the Renewals Process 52:11 Should You Ever Touch During a Negotiation? 53:13 Where to Start If You Want to Get Good 55:35 The 48 Hour Challenge That Will Change Your Day Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 mins
  • The Problem With Training After 30: Sonny Webster

    The Problem With Training After 30: Sonny Webster
    Jun 10 2026
    Sonny Webster joins James Smith for an honest conversation about what training, money and ambition actually look like once you hit your 30s. A British Olympic weightlifter who competed at Rio 2016, Sonny is now a fitness entrepreneur building global training platforms, and he doesn't hold back on the realities of optimisation culture, the TRT debate. 👁️ Try Neutonic: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith 🧪 Check your Test: https://www.manual.co/smith 📝 Business Mentoring: https://www.jamessmith.business 🏋🏼‍♂️ Online Coaching: https://www.jamessmithacademy.com Sonny Webster's YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@sonnywebsterGB Sonny Webster On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sonnywebstergb/ He explains: ◼️ Why training after 30 becomes a completely different ball game ◼️ How peptides and GLP-1s are quietly reshaping the fitness industry ◼️ What moving to Dubai really costs (and why money evaporates faster) ◼️ Why handing over money is the thing that actually makes people change ◼️ Where testosterone sits for the everyday athlete who'll never compete Chapters: 00:00 The Testosterone Debate and Sonny's WADA Ban 00:57 Why Training After 30 Hits Like a Brick Wall 02:10 Olympic Lifting for Longevity, Not Platforms 04:15 Going Sober and the Death of the Wild Weekend 05:07 Peptides, TRT and the World of Optimisation 06:26 Why GLP-1s Make You Hate Alcohol 07:50 Grabbing the Low-Hanging Fruit First 08:32 Becoming a Slave to Your Wearables 12:24 How Dubai Changed Sonny's Physique 16:22 Tax-Free Living and the Money That Evaporates 18:45 Going Back to the UK and Embracing London 20:54 Why Your Friendship Circle Shrinks in Your 30s 23:31 Sonny's Goals: Minimal Effective Dose 26:27 Body, Business, Relationships, You Can't Have All Three 28:05 The Power of a Business Coach and Cutting the Noise 30:16 Why Paying for Something Makes You Actually Do It 31:00 Why Free Codes Create the Worst Clients 32:32 No Transformation Without the Pain 34:48 As Close to 50 as I Am to 23 35:34 Testosterone, the Enhanced Games and Masters Lifting 38:28 The Track Car Logic of TRT 40:34 The Double Standards of Optimisation 41:31 Are We the Peak Optimisation Generation? 43:34 Relationships, Freedom and Finding Hannah 44:56 Having Kids and Knowing When You've Got "Enough" 49:30 The Fair Points Podcast and Missed Opportunities 51:52 Taboo Topics and Creating a Safe Space 52:36 Building a Legacy in Dubai 56:14 Speed Cameras, Statham and Going Bald Gracefully 59:14 The Russian Banya Near-Death Experience 01:01:45 Scaling The Lifting Zone and the Clothing Brand 01:03:09 Wrapping Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
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Extremely insightful. Enjoyed the witty delivery in parts.. Cheers for the awesome content 👌

Tremendous chat

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I'm finding myself going on walks just so I can listen to James, A very knowledgeable man with a great sense of humor. Really enjoying it, Keep it up :)

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