Episode · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett · 2026-09-21
Books mentioned on Rick Rubin: What Jay-Z Did in 30 Minutes Left Me Speechless!
Discover the spiritual and psychological creative process that legendary producer Rick Rubin uses to help the world's biggest artists transcend and achieve greatness. Rick Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, and the author of the philosophical bestseller The Creative Act: A Way of Being.
Steven Bartlett discussed The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. Rick Rubin discussed Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Creative Act
The Creative Act: A Way of Being is a guide to harnessing artistic perspective and spiritual approaches to creativity by legendary music producer Rick Rubin.
Discussed“In your book here, um, the creative act, a way of being, you talk about the things that block creativity, thoughts and habits not conducive to the work.”
Where to get it
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Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu is a foundational text of Eastern philosophy and Taoism that explores the nature of reality, effortless action, and spiritual enlightenment.
Discussed“I first read The Dao when I was I had just moved to California.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And one of the things that I learned through working on the creative act, one of the things it talks about a lot is we're given information all the time around us.”