Ready to begin or deepen your meditation practice? Join Dan Harris and world-class meditation teachers on the 10% with Dan Harris app here: https://app.danharris.com/membership Being Mortal came out in 2014, but the New York Times recently named it one of the top five books to lift you up in hard times — which is a genuinely counterintuitive thing to say about a book explicitly about dying. Today's guest is finally, at long last, on the show to explain the practical, unexpectedly hopeful ideas at the heart of it — plus his stint running global health at USAID, what's happening with AI in medicine, and his next book. Dr. Atul Gawande is a surgical oncologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber, a professor at Harvard, a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, and the bestselling author of Being Mortal, The Checklist Manifesto, Complications, and Better. He also, until January 2025, led the global health work of USAID. In this episode: – The unexpectedly personal Dan-and-Atul connection (Atul knew Dan's dad — they'd shared patients) – Atul's own father's four-year journey with a brainstem tumor — and what pulled the book out of him – The chocolate-ice-cream-and-football "living will" from Susan Block's father – The four questions that transform end-of-life (and end-of-independence) conversations – Becoming a counselor instead of an options-menu — the shift that changed Atul's whole practice – How Atul's mother, at 89, got six years of good life with stage 4 ovarian cancer – The randomized study where patients getting palliative care from the START lived 25% longer – "Everything for what?" — the sharper version of the "do everything" question – Two grandfathers, two ways of aging — the trade-off between independence and family enmeshment – Stanford psychologist Laura Carstensen's finding: our whole perspective shifts based on how fragile we feel we are – Why anxiety and depression actually decline with age – Everyone has a "loyalty" — something they'd sacrifice themselves for. Atul's are family, making health systems better, and (bizarrely, he says) whacking a little yellow ball around a court – The USAID chapter — leading 3,000 people across 65 countries, 90 million lives saved over 20 years – The Green Revolution in India — how food aid turned a recipient country into a top-four food exporter – What happened on January 20, 2025 — Atul's own account of the shutdown and its human cost – AI in medicine — where Atul is bullish and where he's cautious (and why he triangulates across Claude, Gemini, and OpenAI) – Atul's next book, on how people actually change their minds – What's Good — Atul's surprising chimichurri hack, plus his current British/Irish cop-show obsession Subscribe to watch more 10% Happier videos: https://www.youtube.com/tenpercenthappier Follow Dan Harris on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/danharris/ https://www.tiktok.com/@danbharris https://www.facebook.com/DanHarrisABC https://twitter.com/danbharris https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-harris-91ba5716b/ #10PercentHappier #AtulGawande #BeingMortal This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker. Warby Parker makes prescription glasses easy and stylish — shop online with their virtual try-on, or visit a store for an eye exam in a clean, modern space. Covered by many major eye insurance plans, with benefits applied automatically. Buy one pair and get 20% off any additional pairs at https://www.warbyparker.com/happier. This episode is brought to you by Notion. Notion is the AI workspace where your team's knowledge, projects, and agents all come together — docs, meetings, projects, and more in one connected system, with AI that has the context to help you do your best work. Learn more about how Notion can support your business at https://www.notion.com/happier.