I Love Reading Old Newspapers

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I love reading old newspapers. I think it's just such a useful practice to ask like, what would life be like if I was born in a slightly different time and place? And that's a subtle way to increase your own curiosity because there have been many, many billions of people who have lived before us. It takes a lot of confidence to ask questions and understanding that you could be dumb by asking it and being okay with that truth. If you go back and you read what people were forecasting in the past, when you know how the story ends, you realize everybody is wrong all the time. That's close enough to being true that you should have just accepted.

Morgan Housel is an author. His bestselling The Psychology of Money has sold over 2 million copies (and become one of my favorite books in the process!).

In this conversation, we spoke about innovation, reading old newspapers, maintaining curiosity, how ChatGPT will impact writers, his interview with Ryan Holiday, how to get in contact with your heroes, and much more.

(0:00) Intro

(2:25) The Ski Trip That Changed Morgan’s Life

(11:22) 90% Of Virality Is Luck

(14:06) Obsessed With Writing?

(16:05) Research Process

(19:08) Choosing What To Read

(22:53) Why Do Some Things Hit Us?

(24:32) Morgan Starstruck By Jason Zweig

(28:05) How To Get In Contact With Your Heroes

(30:59) Downsides To Fame

(34:05) Happiness & Meaning

(43:33) Free Time Post-Retirement