This week on The Upgrade we talk with Hector Monsegur, Director of Assessment Services at Rhino Labs.

Meditation (and specifically mindfulness meditation) has become increasingly popular, thanks to apps such as Headspace and studies touting the lasting effects of mindfulness on the mind and body. But are these apps really as effective as serious meditation training? And do these studies’ findings have any basis in reality?

How do you deal with a psychopath? What if you realise you married one? This week on The Upgrade we’re joined by Jen Waite, author of A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal, and Dr Michael Stone, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and author of The Anatomy of Evil, to talk about psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists: How to recognise them, how to avoid them, and how to disentangle yourself from them.

This week, Alan Alda and The Moth’s Catherine Burns join us to talk about storytelling. What makes a good story? What makes a good storyteller? How can we use storytelling to communicate better, to sell people on our ideas, to make people like us?

Mel Robbins is a motivational speaker and the author of The 5 Second Rule. She’s also the host of the Audible Original, Kick Ass with Mel Robbins. In this episode, we talk about motivation, taming the negative voices in our heads, and how we can kick our own asses to get from good to great.

In this episode of The Upgrade, Mike Steib, CEO of XO Group and author of The Career Manifesto: Discover Your Calling and Create an Extraordinary Life talks about figuring out your purpose, taking calculated risks, and finding a fulfilling career.

In this week's episode of The Upgrade, we spoke with Danny Wallace: Comedian, radio host, and author of the book F You Very Much: Understanding the Culture of Rudeness - And What We Can Do About It.

In this episode, we're talking with Angela Garbes, the author of Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy.

You know how some people seem to have some kind of inner strength that helps them bounce back when things go wrong? Those people who, even though the world sometimes feels like a scorched hellscape, seem to carry on with grit, even gratitude? Our guest in this week's episode is Buddhist psychologist Rick Hanson.

This week our guests are the hosts of Coin Talk, a podcast about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. Journalists Aaron Lammer and Jay Caspian Kang talk to us about their show, their own adventures trading crypto, and the weird culture of ICOs, conmen and speculators that Aaron calls "Coinworld".

For our first Livehacker event, we hosted an evening with therapist, author and podcast host Esther Perel; divorce lawyer James J. Sexton; and multi-talented performer Donald Shorter, Jr. We had posed this question to our guests: "How should a man be?" Their exploration of this topic was as entertaining as it was illuminating.

Nell Scovell is a comedy writer and the author of Just the Funny Parts: And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boy's Club. Nell's written for The Simpsons, Newhart, The Late Show with David Letterman, and a ton of other shows. We talk to Nell about how she excels as a woman in a field that's so male-dominated.

Our guest on this week's Upgrade is author Stéphane Garnier, whose book How to Think Like a Cat extols the many virtues of adopting a feline mindset.

James J. Sexton is a divorce lawyer who has spent his career working with couples whose marriages are dissolving. He's learned a lot throughout the years about what sours a good marriage (or ends a relationship that's already in trouble), and now he's using that knowledge to help the rest of us. His new book is If You're In My Office It's Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Staying Together.

Our guests this week are video game designer and Seth Scott, creator of Membrane for the Nintendo Switch, and YouTuber Brian Lewis, creator of the Magic: The Gathering advice channel Tolarian Community College. We discuss how to use party games and card games as icebreakers, channels for creativity, and full-blown hobbies.

In this episode we talk to Stephen Snyder, a sex and couples therapist and the author of Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship. We'll discuss why you should be sexually selfish, how the idea of "desire" can mess up your sex life, and why Stephen is against cuddling.

Our guest this week is Outside magazine columnist Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. We discuss how endurance is a skill that involves drive and belief just as much as muscle - and how we all have the potential to go farther, push harder and achieve more.

In this episode we're talking about the lost art of conversation-making. Joining us is podcaster and raconteur Ken Plume, who has conducted extensive interviews with the likes of Mel Brooks and John Cleese. We discuss how Ken got his start feeling comfortable talking to just about anyone, how he handles the awkwardness of a cocktail party (hint: It involves a fern) - and then we invent an acronym that will help you handle any conversational challenge. (Sort of.)

This week on The Upgrade, we spoke in front of a live audience at On Air Fest with journalist Jill Abramson, the first female executive editor of the New York Times, and the co-author of Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas. Jill is currently a political columnist for The Guardian as well as a Senior Lecturer in the English Department at Harvard. Her next book, News Wars, will be out in 2019.