Person
Every book David Epstein recommended on podcasts
Across 4 podcasts. Every show David Epstein appears on, in one place — not just one.
David Epstein is an author and journalist best known for his work on human performance, skill acquisition, and specialization. During appearances on podcasts such as Modern Wisdom and The Daily Stoic, he has discussed and recommended several books across different genres. He expressed a strong fondness for Wired to Create by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, noting its exploration of how creative people often possess contradictory personality traits and contain multitudes. Epstein also referenced Ending Medical Reversal by Vinayak K. Prasad and Adam S. Cifu, highlighting its examination of medical procedures that continue to be performed despite scientific evidence indicating they should be abandoned. In conversations about psychological principles and productivity, he brought up Dr. Seuss's classic Green Eggs and Ham to illustrate how removing the easiest solutions can foster greater creativity. Furthermore, Epstein mentioned reading chapter two of Holly Iglesias's Boxing Inside the Box, where he encountered Pixar's three-pitch rule, a practice designed to prevent creators from becoming overly attached to their initial ideas. Additionally, he touched upon David Deida's The Way of the Superior Man in relation to life phases and transitions, and discussed an anecdote from Ben Bergeron's Chasing Excellence regarding athletic dedication. Through these literary references, Epstein frequently illustrates broader concepts related to human psychology, creative processes, and professional development.
Books recommended by David Epstein
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Wired to Create
Wired to Create by Dr.
Recommended“but but that reminds me of this book that I really loved called wired to create by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire because basically one of the themes is that these creative people are like contradictory and all their personality tests basically like they contain multitudes”
Where to get it
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Chasing Excellence
Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergeron is a self-improvement and fitness book that explores the mindsets, habits, and rigorous frameworks required to achieve elite performance in athletics and daily life.
Recommended“there's a story in chasing excellence by Ben Bergeron where he says that Matt wouldn't let himself leave”
Where to get it
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Ending Medical Reversal
Ending Medical Reversal by Vinayak K.
Recommended“there's a whole book about this called ending medical reversal by these two doctors that talks about how procedures keep being done even after science has like totally show they should not be done and more”
Where to get it
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The Way of the Superior Man
The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida is a self-development guide that explores masculine and feminine energies, relationships, and navigating life phases.
Recommended“David date is the way of the superior man he talks about phases in people's lives and he says that one of the times that's a trigger for he's talking about men”
Where to get it
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Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua is a memoir that explores strict traditional Chinese parenting methods, cultural differences in academic drive, and the intense pressures placed on children.
Discussed“so page one on the book was the start of her the excerpt of Battle Hymn of the tiger mother in The Wall Street Journal and it became the Wall Street Journal's most commented on article ever”
Where to get it
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Boxing Inside the Box
Discussed“And that really reminds me of like in chapter two of inside the box I read about Pixar's three pitches rule where they force directors to pitch three ideas because they found otherwise they just get so attached to their first idea and it usually wasn't their best idea.”
Where to get it
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Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham with 12 Silly Sounds!
Dr.
Discussed“So it is named after the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham which he wrote on a bet that he couldn't write a children's book using only 50 words.”
Where to get it
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Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr.
Discussed“So it is named after the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham which he wrote on a bet that he couldn't write a children's book using only 50 words.”
Where to get it
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Outliers
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a fascinating exploration of the external factors, cultural legacies, and hidden advantages that enable certain individuals to achieve extraordinary success.
Discussed“The Sports Gene was popularized by Gladwell in his book Outliers.”
Where to get it
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Range
Range by David J.
Discussed“there was one in Inventor in range named Jerry Seth who became extremely successful and what I thought was really interesting was she said when she started her her master's program”
Where to get it
Books David Epstein wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (15: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And then after the last one after Range I became a dad and I said I cannot do that again.”
“So, I I'd been so bad even with range, which worked well. I was terrible at like drawing boundaries around my project, which was bad for my personal life, first of all, but also the book probably could have been a little more coherent in some respects.”
“And also, I mean, one thing that's happened, Range is kind of having a little bit of a second life because the the beginning of the book is framed early in this like looking at kind and wicked learning environments in the world like these situations that are sort of more stable.”
“and I wanted I decided to merge my interests in sports and science said I want to write about sudden cardiac death and athletes for Sports Illustrated which I grew up with”
“and that's what led to range I mean I was at Sports Illustrated the 10,000 hours rule work was the most famous science in human development”
“and the Nobel La Daniel Conan who wrote Thinking Fast and Slow was there and someone asked”
“because a question after range that people had for me was you know how do you know when to focus”
“I'm like no that's dead to me now it's dead to me before it's even published”
“you have to proactively work against that to develop some breath or as I called a range and that it's worthwhile and that there are huge benefits to that”
“To give an example of that short-term long-term trade-off, a study came out too recently for me to get it into my book.”
“in fact I like to highlight the NPR in our public radio did a review of range and they they say that I spend a lot of time giving credit to dissenters”
“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”
“one of which was I wrote a book before this called the sports gene about genetics and athleticism”
“and in the book I talk about his interesting studies of inventors of technological inventors and and basically what these studies show is that they're there”
“I I think that so I introduced this concept in the book that the of different types of learning environments what the psychologist Robin Hogarth calls kind and wicked learning environments”