Book · 2013 · Sports & Recreation
The Sports Gene
Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
#210 of 16,672 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 19
- people
- 13
- podcasts
- 10
- episodes
- 16
- critical mentions
- 0
One is David Epstein's The Sports Gene, which is fantastic. I really recommend it.
What they say about it
- Talks about exceptional athletic ability“exceptional athletic ability”2
- Debunks the 10,000 hour rule“debunking of the 10,000 hours argument”2
- References the book on the Joe Rogan Experience“there's a book called the sports gene”2
The best things said about it
Yeah there's this book Sports Gene by David Epstein which I loved so David Epson was a guest he was an excellent guest.
There is this book The Sports Gene that talks about sort of the exceptional athletic ability that we don't really think about when we see Olympic athletes.
Heather Berlin StarTalk Radio · Jul 2014 Your first book The Sports Gene was a 300 page debunking of the 10,000 hours argument.
Steve Levitt People I (Mostly) Admire · Jul 2021 I'm reading this book on the brain sort of like um that guy david epstein wrote he wrote the sports gene where he found the fastest people in the world tiny part of africa the people that run the farthest which is the highlands of kenya Really fascinating book he's a sports illustrated writer.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · May 2019 One, I'm reading this book or I already read it called sport recently called sports gene and they basically talk about genetics and they're just like, "Look, like, the closer you live to the equator, the longer your limbs are and the shorter your torso is and that just makes you like 15% better runner.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
2
1
2
5
3
3
1
2
How it comes up
13 people who brought it up
Rich Roll3 mentions · 1 rec- Heather Berlin1 mention · 1 rec
- Paige Harden1 mention · 1 rec
- Seth Stephens-Davidowitz1 mention · 1 rec
- Steve Levitt3 mentions
- Joe Rogan2 mentions
Bill Gurley1 mention
Malcolm Gladwell1 mention- Mark McClusky1 mention
- Neil deGrasse Tyson1 mention
- Robin Black1 mention
- Sam Parr1 mention
Why people recommend it
The Sports Gene by David Epstein is an investigative science book that explores the complex interplay between innate genetic predisposition and rigorous environmental training in shaping elite athletic performance. On People I (Mostly) Admire, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz recommended the volume for data enthusiasts interested in human biology, while Paige Harden praised it on Modern Wisdom as a fantastic read on the genetic lottery of athleticism. Rich Roll similarly urged listeners of The Rich Roll Podcast to dive into Epstein's work following previous author appearances. Dr. Heather Berlin introduced the title on StarTalk Radio to examine the extraordinary physical traits exhibited by Olympic competitors that often escape casual observation. In conversational discussions, Stephen Dubner on Freakonomics Radio highlighted Epstein's narrative regarding high jumper Donald Thomas to illustrate broader concepts of athletic development. Steve Levitt noted on People I (Mostly) Admire that Epstein's book effectively dismantled the popular ten-thousand-hour mastery rule. Bill Gurley also acknowledged Epstein's authorship on The Tim Ferriss Show, cementing the book's reputation as a cornerstone text for understanding the scientific realities behind world-class physical achievement and natural talent limits.
Every mention
Rich Roll and once you finish that read the sports gene as well and I'll put links up in the show notes to everything… 3
Discussed
“He's the author of some great books, "Range," "The Sports Gene," and he has this newsletter called Range Widely.”
Discussed
“I mean it in many ways it's an extrapolation of your previous book”
Recommended
“and once you finish that read the sports gene as well and I'll put links up in the show notes to everything you can go on a super deep dive into David's world and come back and talk to me again sometime”
Heather Berlin there is this book The Sports Gene that talks about sort of the exceptional athletic ability that we don't… 1
Recommended
“there is this book The Sports Gene that talks about sort of the exceptional athletic ability that we don't really think about when we see Olympic athletes”
Paige Harden One is David Epstein's The Sports Gene, which is fantastic. I really recommend it. 1
Recommended
“One is David Epstein's The Sports Gene, which is fantastic. I really recommend it.”
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz yeah there's this book Sports Gene by David Epstein which I loved so David Epson was a guest he was an exce… 1
Recommended
“yeah there's this book Sports Gene by David Epstein which I loved so David Epson was a guest he was an excellent guest”
Steve Levitt I had David Epstein on the show a couple years back he's written some great books like range and the sports… 3
Discussed
“I had David Epstein on the show a couple years back he's written some great books like range and the sports Gene”
Discussed
“I think many listeners will be shocked to hear that David Epstein destroyed the 10,000 hour Concept in his first book The Sports Stream”
Discussed
“so in some ways your first book The Sports Gene was a 300 page debunking of the 10,000 hours argument”
Joe Rogan well so so if you look at there's a book called the sports gene that talks about this 2
Discussed
“I'm reading this book on the brain sort of like um that guy david epstein wrote he wrote the sports gene where he found the fastest people in the world tiny part of africa the people that run the farthest which is the highlands of kenya Really fascinating book he's a sports illustrated writer”
Discussed
“well so so if you look at there's a book called the sports gene that talks about this”
Bill Gurley Yeah, he wrote The Sports Gene. 1
Discussed
“Yeah, he wrote The Sports Gene.”
Malcolm Gladwell this is my friend David Epstein who wrote Sports Gene is really really interesting on this subject with it… 1
Discussed
“this is my friend David Epstein who wrote Sports Gene is really really interesting on this subject with it with respect to sports”
Mark McClusky David Epstein who wrote another great book about sports science last year called the sports gene talked abo… 1
Discussed
“David Epstein who wrote another great book about sports science last year called the sports gene talked about it as the Big Bang of body types it used to be”
Neil deGrasse Tyson There's this book the sports gene, that talks about sort of the exceptional athletic ability, that we don't… 1
Discussed
“There's this book the sports gene, that talks about sort of the exceptional athletic ability, that we don't really think about, when we see Olympic athletes. They're at a whole different physiological level, than we even would think about.”
Robin Black and the other one is called the sports Gene right and it's the opposite 1
Discussed
“and the other one is called the sports Gene right and it's the opposite”
Sam Parr One, I'm reading this book or I already read it called sport recently called sports gene and they basically… 1
Discussed
“One, I'm reading this book or I already read it called sport recently called sports gene and they basically talk about genetics and they're just like, "Look, like, the closer you live to the equator, the longer your limbs are and the shorter your torso is and that just makes you like 15% better runner."”
Stephen Dubner David Epstein is a science journalist and author of a book called The Sports Gene in it he tells the story… 1
Discussed
“David Epstein is a science journalist and author of a book called The Sports Gene in it he tells the story of a man named Donald Thomas”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker1
Discussed
“Well so so if you look at there's a book called the sports gene that talks about this”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
Plugged
“I'm like no that's dead to me now it's dead to me before it's even published”
Passing
“his first book The Sports Gene examines the role of nature versus nurture in determining who will excel in sports”
Plugged
“one of which was I wrote a book before this called the sports gene about genetics and athleticism and I as well as Malcolm Gladwell would say I devoted several pages to criticizing his work”
Plugged
“one of which was I wrote a book before this called the sports gene about genetics and athleticism”
Passing
“That's David Epstein, a science journalist and author of The Sports Gene.”