Discover how our addiction to instant gratification shapes society, with playful insights into dopamine management. The discussion touches on addiction's historical evolution and its modern manifestations, including the effects of smartphones and social media. A deep dive into personal habits reveals the importance of minimizing distractions for better mental health. Funny anecdotes mix with serious reflections, inviting listeners to navigate their emotional landscapes, ultimately aiming for a balance between ambition and well-being.

SUMMARY: Kellen is behind on his reading, and he needs your help! (Sounds like a Saturday morning PBS cartoon...). Kellen gives a rundown of most of the books he's read so far this year; also he has an idea for a very classy author name; and at around the 15-minute mark he quits recording for a full day to recover from starting to lose his voice in real time (and--if you catch when it happens--it sounds like a miracle), and through the magic of editing, he picks it up right where he left off and you don't have to hear his vocal chords slowly die after that.WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPileLINKS TO BUY THE BOOKS MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE (listed in the order they came in the podcast discussion):11-22-63, by Stephen Kinghttps://amzn.to/3ZQVkBLCreativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide, John Cleesehttps://amzn.to/3ZEKTzMChildren of Time, Adrian Tchaikovskyhttps://amzn.to/3OXq25OA Walk in the Woods, Bill Brysonhttps://amzn.to/3VGohOhA Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Brysonhttps://amzn.to/3Drchd5They Body, Bill Brysonhttps://amzn.to/4fmOVmeTo Hold Up the Sky, Cixin Liuhttps://amzn.to/3Bpx5RPThe Wandering Earth, Cixin Liuhttps://amzn.to/4gSMnh9East of Eden, John Steinbeckhttps://amzn.to/3ZAlpn9Mad at the World (Steinbeck biography), William Souderhttps://amzn.to/41AMN7gMy Man Jeeves, P.G. Wodehousehttps://amzn.to/4iyzs5sDead Men Scare Me Stupid, John Swartzwelderhttps://amzn.to/4fhwsrlJames Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Mediahttps://amzn.to/3ZDT8wcThe Anxious Generation, Jonathon Haidthttps://amzn.to/3OZSqEkA Heart That Works, Rob Delaneyhttps://amzn.to/4iCCJRdPermission to Feel, Marc Bracketthttps://amzn.to/49yRRuZThe Creative Act, Rick Rubinhttps://amzn.to/3ZRx1U5-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com

SUMMARY: It's been 3 years so we gave this book "another go" as they say in non-American English speaking countries, like Wizard Land.  Today we cover the second Harry Potter, which managed to improve on the original, and is also – no offense – the only book you could get rid of without changing anything important. Don’t be mad, but if the series just went straight from Sorcerer’s Stone to Prisoner of Azkaban, you basically wouldn’t know any better. You’d just have to be like, “By the way, Hagrid has a new job, and here’s Ron’s sister.” Look, don’t shoot the messenger.WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237sKELLEN ERSKINE IS IN DES MOINES THIS WEEK, Dec 6-7! For tickets go to:KellenErskine.com-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dpTHE HOSTS!-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: When you hear a story, do you lose interest after like 5 minutes? Then you will LOVE short stories, a new thing we invented. Today’s book is a short story collection by Ray Bradbury, who realized that anything counts as sci-fi if you take a normal story and just put it on Mars. Plus, Kellen has planned out a very unexpected last day on Earth, and Dave uncovers a deceptive photograph.WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237sKELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ALASKA THIS WEEK Nov 26 - 29! Go to KellenErskine.com for tickets-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dpTHE HOSTS!-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: This is a James Bond book without James Bond, a love story without love, and a spy story without spying. The only person who’s unaware of all this is the author, Ian Fleming, AKA the only person feminists beg to please write fewer female characters. KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN CHICAGO THIS WEEK Nov 22-23! Go to KellenErskine.com for tickets-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: Dave and Kellen take another dive into the great Amy Poehler's (SNL, Baby Momma, Parks and Recreation) memoir. Also Dave is terrible at comforting people and Kellen rants about actors' award speeches.KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN PROVO & SALT LAKE CITY THIS WEEK! Nov 7th (Provo) then 8-9 (SLC) go to KellenErskine.com for tickets-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-If you want to read Yes Please and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!https://amzn.to/4e9O0oM-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: Do you ever make a books podcast, and start with your favorite books? But unfortunately, your first episodes are also when you’re the worst at podcasting? So years later you revisit those books to do a better job? That’s what this is! Today we cover a book about cultivating interests in a lot of different fields. It’s great.-If you want to read Range and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!https://amzn.to/3Yi0V3i-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: The events from the date of today's book title are part of a long-running joke on the podcast, so we thought it would be funny to cover this novel for our 200th episode...-If you want to read 11/22/63 and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!https://amzn.to/47GoS7j-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

SUMMARY: Enjoy this throwback episode from September 2022 when we covered the oldest book on the podcast thus far (though the book with the oldest people is probably still Twilight...). Learn the value of surprise as Kellen startles Dave in real time, and bask in Dave's glory as he recounts winning at board games and also possibly saving someone's life (but he's still a nerd because of the board games...). -If you want to read or listen to The Art of War and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!https://amzn.to/4gFuBi7-Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-OR watch Kellen's new comedy special here! Use promo code KELLENERSKINEhttps://www.drybarcomedy.com/kellenerskine-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the hit series The Chosen and director of the movie adaptation, shares insights about his latest project based on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. He discusses the themes of humor and childhood poignancy found in the book. Fun anecdotes reveal a serendipitous meeting with Kellen Erskine, highlighting their comedic connections. Jenkins dives into casting choices and how they enrich emotional storytelling, illustrating how laughter can deepen our understanding of heartfelt narratives.