Books Applied Podcast

We explore the surprising and weird world of breathing in this conversation about the book Breath by James Nestor. Lenka Koppova and I discuss improving our lives by paying more attention to how we breathe.

In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert tells us how to live the life of a creative. Special guest Franklin Taggart and I get into what we like from her advice - which was mostly useful but not completely. We (I) also go off on a minor tangent about how I did not like Eat, Pray, Love - strongly did not like. Listen to find out why.

Winners are better at quitting. Their ability to know when to quit gives them the space and energy to win (instead of wasting their efforts on a losing endeavor). The book Quit by Annie Duke explains this counterintuitive phenomenon and tells us how to get ahead by being better at quitting. In this episode, I discuss the book with Natalie King. We talk about the practical applications of this work and how quitting can lead to more useful outcomes.

The book Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher can come off as a dark exposé of the problems we cause ourselves because we've ingested and internalized capitalism to the point that we can't even imagine another system for a functional world. It can also be read as an introspective chat with the worst of ourselves, with a few exciting movie references along the way. Instead, author and intellectual Tara McMullin and I take another approach to the potentially heavy content: we dig into how we understand where we are and how it helps us make better choices moving forward as workers, leaders and humans. And laughter - there is a ton of laughter in our conversation. It's not all gloom, people. You can find Tara's excellent, mind-expanding newsletter at: explorewhatworks.com.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow provides surprising insights into how we got here and what we've written off along the way to make civilization as we know it seem like it evolved in a smooth linear progression. If you enjoy the experience of saying, "I've been lied to my whole life!" as much as I do, you'll love this conversation I have with Rachel Allen. More about Rachel's work can be found at boltfromthebluecopywriting.com.

There's more to our brain than we think. In this episode Roberta Ravella and I discuss the book Boddha's Brain and the overlap between Buddhist thinking and modern neruroscience. You can shape how your brain functions - this book will tell you how and this podcast is all about it!

Learn about ecstasis and why it is unique, unusual and also something you can create (in many ways!) in your life.

Madeline and I discuss her book about being at home as our world changes. Madeline interviewed people in four communities that are navigating their changing world. The book is a compelling narrative of long-form journalism.  The book also includes some noteworthy tangents - my favorite being a dive into the tragedy of the commons (Madeline's take-down of the concept and author was top-notch!). Learn more about Madeline's journalism work at her website: https://madelineostrander.com/

This is a book about finding flow in all aspects of your life (sports and work and beyond). It's not about tennis -- well it's a little bit about tennis but mainly as an example for how to achieve flow. (Going after flow with intense serious focus and scripting your actions doesn't work, by the way.)

When you can communicate numbers well, you can shock and amaze people. This book (and conversation) tells you how.