How To Solve a Mystery

How To Solve a Mystery

Author: Peach Fish Projects April 15, 2026 Duration: 39:45

Brett has spent her career in foreign policy — shaping strategy, advising governments, moving pieces on a board whose outcomes she may never live to fully see. It's meaningful work. It just never feels finished. So she's started thinking about a different kind of problem: the kind with a beginning, a middle, and an answer. Oh, also, and these mysteries keep presenting themselves in her workplace, and Brett loves mysteries! On this episode of How To!, Mike brings on Christian, a private investigator to talk through the realities of being a PI. He walks Brett through the subtle art of "elicitation," the unglamorous realities of tailing cars and tracing skips, and why cracking a case in the real world is less about lurking in shadows and more about being the kind of person people want to talk to. Executive Producer Corey Wara

Edited by Geoff Craig

Booking by Ben Astaire

Do you have a burning question or a problem you need help with? Email us at howto@mikepesca.com and we will consider your topic for the show.

For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To receive ad-free content, become a Pesca Plus subscriber at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/

Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@pescagist⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/howto


How To! with Mike Pesca is a podcast that operates on a simple, powerful premise: everyday people have complex, real-world problems that need solving. Each episode begins with a listener's specific dilemma, whether it's navigating a unique family dynamic, improving a personal skill, or protecting vulnerable loved ones from modern threats. Host Mike Pesca then connects that individual with genuine authorities-practicing attorneys, medical doctors, seasoned entrepreneurs, published researchers, and other accomplished experts-to provide actionable, credible advice. The conversations are structured yet organic, moving from the personal story of the problem to a practical exploration of solutions. You'll hear the caller's situation unfold, the expert's breakdown of the issue, and a collaborative path forward. This isn't abstract self-help; it's a direct application of specialized knowledge to tangible human challenges. The podcast thrives on specificity, tackling questions you might not even know how to ask, let alone who to ask. By focusing on one person's story, it uncovers insights and strategies that resonate far beyond the individual case, making expert guidance accessible and relatable. The tone is curious, empathetic, and grounded, prioritizing depth and utility over generic inspiration. Listening feels like being part of a focused, productive consultation where real questions meet real answers.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

How To! with Mike Pesca
Podcast Episodes
Quick Fix: Dismantling Male Supremacy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:49
Journalist and activist Soraya Chemaly decided to write her new book All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy before the 2024 election. No matter the result, "there was going to be a huge backlash," she…
How To Harness Your Anger [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:44
Contemporary women are primal-screaming and hitting rage rooms, but are these really the solutions to our personal and political anger? On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin talks with Soraya Chemaly, journalist an…
Quick Fix: Starting Conversations About Identity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:49
In this special bonus episode, youth mentor Ashanti Branch talks with our listener Jen about her son's early observation about his skin color—and how to sustain conversations with young kids about race and identity. If y…
How To Raise a Boy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:16
Jen is raising a pretty stellar 9-year-old son. With his tween and teen years on the horizon, she wants to steer him toward kindness, acceptance, and openness—and away from the pitfalls of toxic masculinity. On this epis…
How To Quit IVF (and Start a New Chapter) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:27
After seven years of trying to conceive, Lauren is ending fertility treatments and starting a new journey: adoption. She's excited about this unexpected detour into parenthood—but she's also grieving the loss of somethin…
Quick Fix: The Afterword [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:36
In our latest mailbag episode, Courtney and Carvell had so much to say about books that we're bringing you even more in this Quick Fix bonus chat about audiobooks, cozy mysteries, and romance novels. Do you have a proble…
Update: Losing Your 'Virginity' at 43 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:23
In this mailbag episode of How To!, we get an update from Elizabeth, the 43-year-old listener who contacted us for advice on her plan to have sex for the first time. Then, co-hosts Courtney Martin and Carvell Wallace get…
Quick Fix: Carvell's Take on Hypnosis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:27
Two days after his experience with hypnosis, Carvell answers his How To! coworkers' burning questions: What does he remember (and not remember)? Does he feel any different? And most important: Would he do it again? Do yo…
How To Use Hypnosis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:55
Much of our common understanding of hypnosis has been gleaned from mind-control plots in Hollywood movies or hokey on-stage demonstrations. On this episode of How To!, Carvell Wallace brings on Stanford University psychi…
Quick Fix: How to Be an Atheist Chaplain [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:34
Vanessa Zoltan's decision to enroll at Harvard Divinity School as an avowed atheist might seem unusual—at first. In this Quick Fix bonus episode for Slate Plus members, Zoltan talks with Carvell Wallace about becoming an…