Book · 1988 · Biography & Autobiography
The Right Stuff
- mentions
- 17
- people
- 11
- podcasts
- 10
- episodes
- 15
- critical mentions
- 0
The right stuff was i it's what motivated me to be an astronaut I read that book as a in high school and it kind of i didn't know anything like no one in my family had ever been an astronaut or a pilot And so that right stuff book showed me how to be an astronaut.
What they say about it
- Motivated reader to become astronaut“motivated me to be an astronaut”2
- Account of space program“classic accounts of the early days”2
The best things said about it
Tom Wolfe fabulous writer all his stuff I would recommend and certainly, The Right Stuff maybe for listeners of this podcast is on the history of the Mercury space program.
John Collison Cheeky Pint · Sep 2025 So there's kind of this like famous uh book from I think in 1979 called The Right Stuff by Tom Wolf. I don't know if you ever read that. It's it's like one of the classic accounts of the early days of u of the US space program.
It's about the initial test pilots that became the first astronauts on the Gemini and Apollo missions.
And it was the right stuff by Tom Wolf and just the you know the way Tom writes that captured my attention.
In The Right Stuff, the line that I was always struck by is Tom Wolfe points out that like John Glenn's heart rate never goes above 100.
Ryan Holiday The Daily Stoic · May 2026 Going to NASA and writing one of the great histories of NASA. I mean here was The Right Stuff, you know here was a writer in full even before we get to the fiction.
Where and when it comes up
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How it comes up
11 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe is a classic account documenting the early days of the United States space program and the test pilots turned astronauts of the Mercury project. The book received widespread praise across several podcasts. On The Shawn Ryan Show, Ryan Holiday asked Shawn Ryan if he had read the book, and later on The Daily Stoic, Holiday discussed Tom Wolfe's depiction of John Glenn's remarkably calm demeanor and low heart rate during spaceflight. John Collison recommended the book to Keller Cliffton on Cheeky Pint, describing Wolfe as a fabulous writer and highlighting the historical focus on the Mercury space program. Astronaut Scott Kelly shared on The Book Review that reading Tom Wolfe's work as a kid captured his attention and directly inspired him to become an astronaut and engage with science. Jordan Klepper similarly noted on StarTalk Radio that Kelly's childhood reading of the book inspired his astronaut career, prompting Klepper to read it himself. Additionally, Rich Cohen discussed the book on The Daily Stoic while exploring the theme of astronauts waiting inside capsules before liftoff, and Scott Solomon referenced it on Modern Wisdom during a conversation concerning astronaut selection criteria.
Every mention
Ryan Holiday have you read Tom Wolf's the right stuff yeah yeah great great book 3
Recommended
“Do you ever read The Right Stuff? The Tom Wolf book?”
Discussed
“Well, in in in The Right Stuff, the line that I was always struck by is Tom Wolfe points out that like John Glenn's heart rate never goes above 100 during the the thing.”
Recommended
“have you read Tom Wolf's the right stuff yeah yeah great great book”
Scott Kelly and it was the right stuff by Tom Wolf and just the you know the way Tom writes that captured my attention 3
Discussed
“but uh you know regarding the book the right stuff uh the movie you mentioned the movie i think i maybe maybe saw it once Really the book was much more significant uh part of my life really was what's inspired me to become a better student and uh to go on and fly in the in the navy and”
Discussed
“but uh you know regarding the book the right stuff the movie you mentioned the book was much more significant”
Recommended
“and it was the right stuff by Tom Wolf and just the you know the way Tom writes that captured my attention”
John Collison Tom Wolfe fabulous writer all his stuff I would recommend and certainly, "The Right Stuff" maybe for listen… 1
Recommended
“Tom Wolfe fabulous writer all his stuff I would recommend and certainly, "The Right Stuff" maybe for listeners of this podcast is on the history of the Mercury space program.”
Jordan Klepper he was talking a lot about the right stuff and how that was a movie in the book Exactly now he read the boo… 1
Recommended
“he was talking a lot about the right stuff and how that was a movie in the book Exactly now he read the book when he was a kid and inspired him to want to be an astronaut to want to engage in science again”
Terry Virts the right stuff was i it's what motivated me to be an astronaut i read that book as a in high school and it… 2
Discussed
“the right stuff was i it's what motivated me to be an astronaut i read that book as a in high school and it kind of i didn't know anything like no one in my family had ever been an astronaut or a pilot”
Discussed
“the right stuff was i it's what motivated me to be an astronaut I read that book as a in high school and it kind of i didn't know anything like no one in my family had ever been an astronaut or a pilot And so that right stuff book showed me how to be an astronaut”
Ashlee Vance I mean, yes, there are things in this book that are about business and space, but I mean, this is really me… 1
Discussed
“I mean, yes, there are things in this book that are about business and space, but I mean, this is really meant to be more of a narrative, a story more than anything else. You know, it's kind of written for a mainstream audience, sort of like the, the right stuff”
Augustus Doricko you ever read the book The Right Stuff? No. Um, it's by Tom Wolf. It's about the initial test pilots that b… 1
Discussed
“you ever read the book The Right Stuff? No. Um, it's by Tom Wolf. It's about the initial test pilots that became the first astronauts on the Gemini and Apollo missions.”
Dwight Garner going to NASA and writing one of the great histories of NASA I mean here was the right stuff you know here… 1
Discussed
“going to NASA and writing one of the great histories of NASA I mean here was the right stuff you know here was a writer in full even before we get to the fiction”
Max Silvestri I'm asking this because I'm reading uh the right stuff right now and space race and the idea of it being li… 1
Discussed
“I'm asking this because I'm reading uh the right stuff right now and space race and the idea of it being like nationalistic.”
Rich Cohen So it's another great thing for me in a book is in the Tom Wolf book, The Right Stuff, where he's got the a… 1
Discussed
“So it's another great thing for me in a book is in the Tom Wolf book, The Right Stuff, where he's got the astronauts sitting upside down in the capsule waiting for the blast off.”
Scott Solomon So there's kind of this like famous uh book from I think in 1979 called The Right Stuff by Tom Wolf. I don'… 1
Discussed
“So there's kind of this like famous uh book from I think in 1979 called The Right Stuff by Tom Wolf. I don't know if you ever read that. It's it's like one of the classic accounts of the early days of u of the US space program.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
Discussed
“and uh so you know I grew up wanting to be and then Along Came the book uh and I read it like in two days and wanted to play Gordo Cooper because he was my favorite astronaut back then”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“is that what you think made Rolling Stone as a magazine work that it transcended the music that it was also culture that was where bonfire the vanities was serialized the right stuff”
Passing
“I'm watching Walter Cronkite and I'm watching JFK and I'm thinking like just this period of like early 60s, right stuff, Tom Wolfe.”
Passing
“Not for our greatest of frontier, no, so, we have the right stuff. (Paul laughs) If you just buy the right stuff, it ain't the right stuff.”
Passing
“but that back one lose the right stuff right”