Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2025-01-07
Books mentioned on Burned Out? Start Here.
Ezra Klein recommended Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield and Death by Joan Tollifson, and discussed Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. Oliver Burkeman recommended The Uncontrollability of the World by Hartmut Rosa.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Meditations for Mortals
Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman is a philosophical self-help book that explores how to embrace human limitations and find meaning in a finite life.
Discussed“but that was the frame of I was in when I picked up all of our burkman's meditations for Mortals and the book connected for me”
Where to get it
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Four Thousand Weeks
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is a time management book that reframes productivity around the fundamental finitude of human existence.
Discussed“burkman's big idea which he described in his bestseller a couple years back 4,000 weeks is it no productivity system anywhere will ever deliver what it is”
Where to get it
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The Uncontrollability of the World
The Uncontrollability of the World by Hartmut Rosa is a philosophical essay that examines modern society's relentless drive to render all aspects of life controllable, predictable, and optimized, and the psychological costs that follow.
Recommended“he has um a small book called The uncontrollability of the world that he's also written a very big one but if we're going for easily finishable things let's go with that”
Where to get it
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Fully Alive
Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield is a reflective exploration of human flourishing and spiritual grounding during periods of cultural instability.
Recommended“I'd also recommend a book by uh friend of mine Elizabeth field called fully alive I think the subtitle is tending to the soul in turbulent times”
Where to get it
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Death
Death: The End of Self-Improvement by Joan Tollifson is a spiritual work that challenges conventional notions of personal growth and psychological striving.
Recommended“and then uh there's a book by a spiritual teacher called Joan toson which has the remarkable title death the end of self-improvement which um that's strong”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and you and I actually share a f ation it was in uh my book on polarization and it was also something you read about in your book with this article the times published years ago about a man who in at the beginning of the first Trump Administration decided he was done with the news”