Profile
Host of Spørretimen. He uses the podcast to explore economics, technology, business, learning and how people make decisions.
Jan Sindre Heltne started Spørretimen from a simple idea: a lot of people carry stories, experience and knowledge that more of us ought to hear. The conversations are about what it is really like to work in a profession, to take an expedition, to build a career in music. The explainers are about the subjects around them – sleep, memory, habits, money.
He is a siviløkonom – the Norwegian MSc in Business – with a master’s in logistics, has a background in ERP systems, and works in business analytics day to day. That background is why the podcast keeps returning to numbers and how organisations actually decide things. That is where the curiosity comes from. The podcast is a hobby, made in his spare time. Both theses he has written are walked through in episodes of their own – the bachelor thesis on RFID and stock counting and the master’s thesis on ERP–WMS integrations.
He is not presented as an expert on every subject covered, and the site keeps personal experience, professional explanation and documented fact clearly apart. The explainers are sourced, and where a claim is disputed, the episode says so. That is the whole approach: curious, not lecturing.
Spørretimen Explained
What do the numbers in a barcode mean? A walk through the GS1 standards – how a GTIN is built up, how the check digit is calculated, what the prefix actually says about country of origin, the keys beyond GTIN, and the move to 2D codes towards 2027.
How do you build habits that last? A walk through James Clear's Atomic Habits – the four laws, the 1 % rule, habit stacking, the two-minute rule and why you should never miss twice.
How do you sleep better? A walk through what Matthew Walker, Andrew Huberman and Bryan Johnson agree on - the circadian rhythm, sleep pressure, light, caffeine and the evening routine.
Topics