Episode · Modern Wisdom · 2025-12-25
Books mentioned on Life Hacks: A Christmas Special (2025) - #1037
I'm back on my old couch in Newcastle upon Tyne, with Jonny, a virtual Yusef & George to catch up on what they've learned this year, what their best hacks were, and their reflections on 2025.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Useful Not True
Useful Not True by Derek Sivers is a book that explores unconventional mental models, belief systems, and cognitive frameworks for navigating life and business.
Recommended“So there's um yeah, Civers has this useful but not true um and he starts off with this story of obviously for people who don't know he ends up being a quite a successful entrepreneur, internet programmer, etc., etc.”
Where to get it
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Endurance
Endurance by Alfred Lansing is a classic historical account documenting Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 1914 Antarctic expedition and the remarkable survival of his crew.
Discussed“I remember reading um Endurance by Alfred Lansing and he's talking about Shackleton's diary entries versus what everybody else's diary entries are, right?”
Where to get it
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The Etymologicon
The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth is an entertaining exploration of the unexpected connections, histories, and hidden origins of everyday English words.
Recommended“So there's a book called the Ethmologicon which is where I got a lot of this stuff from.”
Where to get it
