Bless the Phone with Ross Simonini

Bless the Phone with Ross Simonini

Author: Zak Rosen May 13, 2026 Duration: 20:06
Ross Simonini is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. Read his essays Bless The Phone here and Through the Fire here. Check out his essential interviews with so many modern masters at The Believer! Noa on using our phone less. Dapne on using our phone less. Rabbi Yoni on the bathroom blessing. -- BECOME A WEIRD HELPER AND LISTEN TO THE SHOW AD-FREE! GET YOUR WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH HERE! -- Ross has held solo presentations of his work at the Sharjah Biennial (UAE), Francois Ghebaly (NYC), anonymous gallery (NYC), Et Al (SF), SHRINE (LA), suns.works (Zurich), Shoot the Lobster (LU), and Human Resources (LA).  ​His novel, The Book of Formation (2018, Melville House) chronicles the rise of a fictional philosophical movement. His essays appear in the New York Times, McSweeneys, ArtReview and The Paris Review. ​​He releases music under his own name and has released music as a member of the bands, NewVillager and Trespassers William. He has performed at Performa, Andy Warhol Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum.  ​​​As a professor, he has taught seminars on experimental process, writing, art, sound, and dialogue at Columbia University, CA College of the Arts, and UCLA. He served as an editor at The Believer for a decade and has created audio programs for SFMOMA, KCRW, and ArtReview. ​​He ran ALICIA, a gallery & performance space on his property in Altadena before the fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosted by Zak Rosen, Weirdly Helpful (which you might remember as The Best Advice Show) operates on a simple, charming premise: the most effective strategies for getting through the day aren't always the most obvious ones. This is a weekly, compact podcast built on the idea that a slight shift in perspective or a deliberately odd action can recalibrate your mood or solve a stubborn problem. Each episode features a different guest contributor sharing one specific, curious tactic they personally use. You won't get lengthy lectures or clinical self-help here. Instead, you'll hear about tangible, often playful experiments and rituals-think of it as a friendly, audio-based swap meet for life hacks that are delightfully left of center. The practices discussed are genuinely unconventional, yet presented with such warmth and clarity that their utility becomes undeniable. It’s that moment of surprised recognition when something seemingly bizarre, like vocalizing frustration in a primal way or transforming a daily routine into a small sensory celebration, clicks into place as profoundly sensible. The podcast lives in the intersection of Education, Fitness, and Mental Health precisely because improving daily life touches all those facets. Rosen curates these conversations to be short bursts of inspiration, leaving you with a single, actionable idea to sit with and perhaps try for yourself, wondering why you hadn't thought of it before. The cumulative effect of listening is a gentle expansion of what you consider helpful, finding value and a bit of magic in the wonderfully strange.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Weirdly Helpful (formerly The Best Advice Show)
Podcast Episodes
Let's Meet at the Corner of Mindfulness and Playfulness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:05
Zak's Weirdly Helpful guru, Laura Hawley, returns to the show to share a transcendent and fun gift-giving practice. Hear Laura on howling and bus art. BECOME A WEIRD HELPER and GET AD-FREE EPISODES @ https://www.patreon.…
The Weirdly Helpful Gratitude Hour [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:38
Weirdly Helpful advice on today's episode comes from Lainey, Margo, Rabbi Yoni and Zak! --- If you have a response to Morty's voice memo, send me something at Zak@weirdlyhelpful.show or call the hotline @ 844-935-2378 --…
What's the Deal with Handshaking in 2025? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:01
Lizzie Post is the great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post, and author of Emily Post's Etiquette - The Centennial Edition, and Higher Etiquette, as well as Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette 6th edition, and The Etiquette Ad…
The Best Advice Show is Dead. This is Weirdly Helpful! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:46
Zak is excited to present Weirdly Helpful, the spiritual successor to The Best Advice Show. On this first episode, Zak talks to artist and therapist, Laura Hawley whose advice from 2020 inspired the new show title. --- T…