Person
Every book Gabor Mate recommended on podcasts
Across 7 podcasts. Every show Gabor Mate appears on, in one place — not just one.
Gabor Mate’s most recommended books
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- The Evolved Nest by Darcia Narvaez, PhD
- Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine, Ph.D.
- Scattered Minds by Gabor Maté, MD
- Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz, PhD
- The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry
Dr. Gabor Maté is a renowned physician and author. During his appearances on various podcasts, such as On Purpose with Jay Shetty, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, and The Joe Rogan Experience, Maté shared several influential book recommendations and discussed works that shaped his perspective. When asked how to begin dealing with stress, he recommended his own book When the Body Says No, explaining the concept that unresolved emotional suppression can manifest as physical illness in the body. Expressing a strong preference for literary classics, Maté noted that he frequently rereads Homer's The Iliad to engage with the epic scale of the Trojan War, and mentioned recently rereading Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov for its deep psychological insight into the human soul. He also brought up Barbara Kingsolver's novel Demon Copperhead, discussing its modern take on David Copperfield. Furthermore, Maté recommended Jean Liedloff's book The Continuum Concept, which explores traditional child-rearing practices among stone-age people, and discussed Darcia Narvaez's book The Evolved Nest in relation to human and animal parenting strategies. Finally, he highlighted Bessel van der Kolk's perennial New York Times bestseller The Body Keeps the Score as an essential text on the nature and impact of trauma.
Books recommended by Gabor Mate
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The Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is an influential exploration of how trauma physically impacts the brain and body, offering pathways to healing through modern science and therapy.
Recommended“i mean uh i don't know if you know the name bessel van der kolk he's a psychiatrist this is in the perennial bestseller in the new york times called the body keeps the score which is about trauma”
Where to get it
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The Evolved Nest
The Evolved Nest by Darcia Narvaez and G.
Recommended“Dar was the the scientist the psychologist that you mentioned she's written a book called the evolved nest”
Where to get it
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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté is a profound exploration of addiction, trauma, and the deep psychological roots underlying compulsive human behavior.
Discussed“so my book on addiction in the realm of hungry ghosts close encounters with addiction was published in 2009 in canada and in 2010 in the states in which i point out that addiction is always always always rooted in trauma”
Where to get it
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Top Five Regrets of the Dying
Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware compiles insights from a palliative care nurse who spent years tending to terminally ill patients, revealing the most common emotional realizations people experience at the end of life.
Discussed“in Australia there was a paliative care nurse who wrote a book called the top five regrets of dying people”
Where to get it
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When the Body Says No
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr.
Recommended“Well, um read my books. But, uh uh Well, I actually actually, I did mention the book I wrote called When the Body Says No, which is the whole point is that when you don't say no, the body will say it for you in the form of illness.”
Where to get it
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Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A.
Recommended“waking the tiger waking the tiger was his first book and he's written many wonderful books since then somatic somatic experiencing his method is called”
Where to get it
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Hold on to your kids
Hold On to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté is a parenting book that warns against the dangers of peer orientation, arguing that children must remain closely bonded to their parents and adult caregivers rather than their peers to ensure healthy psychological development.
Discussed“one of the books I've helped to write core word is called hold on to your kids but parents need to matter more than peers and the point made in that book is precisely what you just articulated”
Where to get it
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Scattered Minds
Scattered Minds by Gabor Maté, MD is an exploration of attention deficit disorder, linking the condition to early childhood development, emotional stress, and environmental factors.
Discussed“that was my first book on adhd it's the american scattered or scattered minds depending on which edition you got”
Where to get it
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Mindfulness in Plain English
Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana is an accessible introduction to meditation that teaches concentration and spiritual awareness.
Discussed“You know, so there's another uh spiritual teacher, Gunaratana. He wrote a book called uh Mindfulness in Plain English, Mhm. which I've just been working through recently and um he's talking about a higher morality that comes from being truly yourselves and in touch.”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a complex philosophical novel that delves deeply into faith, doubt, free will, and morality through the turbulent relationships of the Karamazov family.
Recommended“um I just reread U the brothers kov last year”
Where to get it
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Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver's acclaimed novel Demon Copperhead is a contemporary reimagining of Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, set against the grim backdrop of the opioid crisis in modern-day Appalachia.
Recommended“demon Copperhead by Barbara Kings and and she wrote The Poisonwood Bible that's her most favorite famous book”
Where to get it
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No Bad Parts
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz, PhD is an influential guide to Internal Family Systems, a therapeutic approach rooted in the concept that the human mind is composed of multiple sub-personalities that can be healed through compassion rather than suppression.
Recommended“Read Dick Schwartz's book on internal family systems called No Bad Parts.”
Where to get it
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The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D.
Recommended“Read Bruce Perry's book called ù The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog.”
Where to get it
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The continuum concept
The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff is a parenting and anthropological book exploring how traditional societies raise their children.
Recommended“I just read a really interesting book by the way it's called the the Continuum concept published 40 years ago”
Where to get it
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The Iliad
The Iliad by Homer is an ancient Greek epic poem that details the events of the Trojan War and the wrath of Achilles.
Recommended“so I tend to go for the classics so I keep ring thead by Homer wow the Trojan War”
Where to get it
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What Happened to You?
What Happened to You? is a conversational guide on trauma, resilience, and healing co-authored by Oprah Winfrey and child psychiatrist Dr.
Recommended“Read Oprah Winfrey's and Bruce Perry's book What Happened to You?”
Where to get it
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12 Rules for Life
Jordan B.
Critiqued“jordan peterson says that in his book twelves rules for life an angry child should be made to sit by themselves until he says they come back to normal”
Where to get it
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Blessed with a Brain Tumor
Discussed“in this book The Myth of normal lying to you a young man called Bill pie wrote a book called blessed with a brain tumor in a Hot Hog”
Where to get it
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Born for Love
Discussed“Well, the great psychiatrist um and co-writer with Oprah of a Bruce Perry has written a book called Born for Love.”
Where to get it
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Catch-22
Catch-22 is Joseph Heller's famous satirical novel about the absurd bureaucratic paradoxes and psychological toll of military life during World War II.
Discussed“Cat 22 yeah I I reread that a couple years ago I split a gut who was it not John sck who wrote that uh Joseph heler”
Where to get it
The other 12 books Gabor Mate recommended or discussed, ranked
- Cribsheet by Emily Oster
- Determined by Robert M. Sapolsky
- Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani
- Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
- Spare by Prince Harry
- The Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel
- The Hacking of the American Mind by Robert H. Lustig
- The Scourge of the Swastika by Lord Russell of Liverpool
- Touching: the Human Significance of the Skin by Montague Francis Ashley Montagu
- Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
- Winnie the Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh) by A. A. Milne
Books Gabor Mate wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (26: passing, ad reads, own books)
“You look, I just Believe me, my wife's in the audience and she once said to me, uh "Buddy, you've written a book called When the Body Says No. Now, you better write one called When the Wife Says No."”
“The first book I ever wrote, Scattered Minds, was an ADHD after I was diagnosed.”
“and uh my son Daniel who helped me write the myth of normal uh he said in the book that the floor was never the floor”
“I found out about aasa after my book on addiction got published in 2009 it's called in the realm of hunger ghost”
“um I mention this in the methan normal after my book on addiction came out in the realm of hungry ghosts”
“certainly the first book I wrote in ADHD it's called scattered Minds”
“demon Copperhead by Barbara Kings and and she wrote The Poisonwood Bible that's her most favorite famous book”
“that was my first book on adhd it's the american scattered or scattered minds depending on which edition you got”
“You know, the singer Sheryl Crow, she had breast cancer and she said afterwards, and this could be, and I quote this in the myth of normal, and it could be right out of my own work, but she doesn't know about me.”
“I quote this in the Myth of Normal, my friend and colleague and teacher, Bessel van der Kolk, psychiatrist who wrote the book The Body Keeps the Score.”
“And um they tend to believe that um in The Myth of Normal, I quote an an obituary.”
“Now, there's a guy called in the myth of normal wrote a book called blessed with a brain tumor.”
“Sometimes people say to me ù I I wrote this book that I know that you have on your desk, When the Body Says No.”
“So, this book, The Myth of Normal, you know, best-seller internationally and published in 35 languages, I should be happy.”
“As I make the point in The Myth of Normal, and children can be traumatized not just by terrible things happening to them, but just by not having their needs met.”
“Well, first of all, and I talk about this in The Myth of Normal, and really my wife came on stage at the Troxy on Monday night and talked about this.”
“Um as the subject of my book When the Body Says No, and then again in The Myth of Normal, people tended to be compulsively concerned with the emotional needs of others rather than their own”
“so much so that in this book The Myth of normal I actually talk about a an experience with psychedelic mushrooms at the with the therapist”
“well part of the toxicity of the culture that I talk about in this book is that it actually rewards that kind of emptiness”
“so in your class like like race and class in this Society of inequality are certainly traumatic potentially traumatic inputs as I pointed in this book”
“the other aspect of it was that again my view is as I pointed in this book and in previous Works who gets sick and who doesn't isn't isn't exactly accidental”
“so my first book on ADHD after I was diagnosed with it was published in 1999 Now so that was 23 years ago now”
“because um I called in this book uh there's a great Hungarian Canadian stress researcher called Janus celi a c-l-y-e”
“as we say in this book there are congenial Liars but there are no congenital Liars”
“um you might find that you don't need the medication uh so much anymore or not at all”
“I don't know if you read my book, Hold on to Your Kids.”


















