Person
Every book James Sexton recommended on podcasts
Across 6 podcasts. Every show James Sexton appears on, in one place — not just one.
James Sexton discussed and referenced a variety of works across multiple podcast platforms regarding relationships, literature, and human behavior. On On Purpose with Jay Shetty, he recommended The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce by Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia M. Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, citing its long-term behavioral research on children experiencing parental divorce. On The Mel Robbins Podcast, Sexton mentioned Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men to illustrate how people can become so fixated on their losses that they fail to notice other opportunities slipping away. While appearing on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, Sexton referenced Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit and Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to contrast society's praise for workplace productivity books with its views on relationship resources. In the same interview, he discussed reading Russell Brand's Recovery and books on adult children of alcoholics during his college years, noting how profoundly they mirrored his personal experiences, and cited Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet while talking about parenting. Additionally, on Huberman Lab, he brought up Joseph Brodsky's poetry and quoted Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms to reflect on love, loss, and how heartbreak can make individuals stronger in their broken places.
Books recommended by James Sexton
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The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce by Judith S.
Recommended“I think what the long-term behavioral research on children and divorce says, and there's a great book called The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, that was the longest term study ever done of children of divorce.”
Where to get it
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A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is a celebrated novel that chronicles a tragic wartime romance and the brutal realities of combat, known for its spare prose and poignant explorations of human resilience.
Discussed“There's a line from U. Hemingway from uh a farewell to arms where he says the world breaks everyone and and some are stronger in the broken places.”
Where to get it
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Drugstore Cowboy
Discussed“There's a line in "Drugstore Cowboy," which is a great film. Where he says, "We played a game you couldn't win to the utmost."”
Where to get it
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Eight miles high
Discussed“And we did it like at the end, like Eminem at the end of "Eight Mile." It was very like, yeah, I cheated on her with this person.”
Where to get it
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Little Town on the Prairie
Discussed“I tell you, I define the Ben Affleck movie, "The Town," that scene, that's friendship to me. I mean, to me, the ideal male friendship is the scene where he says, "I need you to come with me.”
Where to get it
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No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is a gripping modern Western thriller following a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and a relentless, calculating killer named Anton Chigurh.
Discussed“And Cormac McCarthy in one of his novels, I think it's No Country for Old Men, he says that people reach a stage in their life where they've lost so much that they focus on it and they don't see what else is going out the door.”
Where to get it
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Peace Is Every Step
Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh is a practical guide to mindfulness, offering accessible meditations and exercises designed to cultivate inner peace and awareness in daily life.
Discussed“Peace in Every Step.”
Where to get it
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Recovery
Recovery by Russell Brand is a humorous and accessible guide that applies the principles of the twelve-step program to help individuals navigate addiction and personal struggles.
Discussed“I remember reading the book recovery, adult children of alcoholics, I stumbled on it when I was in college in a bookstore and I remember reading it and going, have they been reading my diary? Like what the holy because there was this profile of like one of the types one of the archetypes of adult children of alcoholics is”
Where to get it
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R.
Discussed“You know what's so funny is if I walked into your home and on the table there was, you know, the power of habit by during or the seven habits of highly effective people, I would go, 'Oh, look at look at Stephen. He's still so successful. He's still trying to sharpen the point of the spear. Amazing.'”
Where to get it
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The Power of Habit
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a bestselling exploration of how habit loops dictate personal and professional success.
Discussed“You know what's so funny is if I walked into your home and on the table there was, you know, the power of habit by during or the seven habits of highly effective people, I would go, 'Oh, look at look at Stephen. He's still so successful. He's still trying to sharpen the point of the spear. Amazing.'”
Where to get it
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The Prophet
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is a classic collection of poetic philosophical essays on aspects of the human condition.
Discussed“You know Cahel Gabbron in the prophet when he's talking about children he says that children are living arrows.”
Where to get it
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The Song of Songs, a Revised Translation with Introduction and Commentary - Scholar's Choice Edition
Discussed“I often say you my favorite poem is a poem by Joseph Broaddsky called The Song.”
Where to get it
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The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is a classic Lost Generation novel chronicling the disillusionment, travels, and romantic entanglements of a group of American and British expatriates in Europe.
Discussed“Ernest Hemingway said in um The Sun Also Rises, um I I went bankrupt the same way anybody does. Very slowly and then all at once.”
Where to get it
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The Wall
The Wall by Pink Floyd is an iconic concept album and rock opera that explores isolation, trauma, emotional alienation, and the metaphorical barriers individuals build around themselves.
Discussed“I mean I think it's the whole arc of Pink Floyd, "The wall." (Lex laughs) It's literally- - [Lex] Yeah. - The entire arc of Pink Floyd "The Wall."”
Where to get it
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True Romance - Love and Laughter
True Romance - Love and Laughter is a cultural artifact and romantic crime film depicting intense affection, eccentricity, and high-stakes chaos.
Discussed“There's a scene in the movie "True Romance." - [Lex] Yes, I love "True Romance." - I love a great movie. - [Lex] Yeah. - I mean, Gary Oldman scene is like the greatest scene ever done in film with Christian Slater.”
Where to get it
Books James Sexton wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (23: passing, ad reads, own books)
“when my book you know how to stay in love right like this title for a book, How to Stay in Love. Noble goal.”
“Uh, you can get How to Stay in Love anywhere where fine books are sold.”
“So How to Stay in Love has been out longer. Yeah. So, it's done quite well um over the period of time. It's in its fourth printing right now.”
“And you know, I had a client, I talk about it in the book who I was talking to her after we'd been many miles together.”
“You know, there's a chapter in my book called Go Without or Go Elsewhere.”
“And when I wrote the book, it really wasn't meant for people who were in crisis. It was really meant for people who were not. Yeah. It was meant to be a wedding gift.”
“look like you're coming out of the set of Inherit the Wind, like look like you are what you because you got a conservative old man as your judge.”
“when the woman cheats it's like oh this poor woman like she she needed to find herself she needed like her eat prey love moment”
“if you say to me, (Jim,) I love Star Wars. Like the struggle of the Jedi against the Empire, like it inspires me to want to be a disciplined person”
“I forget what her charact's character was on Titanic but like if you think he'd lived at the end of Titanic that a few years later she wouldn't be like all right enough painting the French girls”
“Like I my heroes growing up were from Last of the Moheakans, right? L Longon Caribbean, you know, the the like they were samurai”
“the things I wrote in my book, like you know, my book, How to Stay in Love: Practical Wisdom from an Unlikely Source, the idea was not to to to just talk about people in troubled relationships”
“there's all of these sort of Zen parables of the of the monk who like in Batman Begins, you know, sort of in his in his flip-flops and robes sort of wanders up the mountain through the cold trying to find the Zen master at the top of the mountain who has the wisdom that he can then share with”
“so that's the original title of of my first book was if you're in my office it's already too late”
“This is like some James Clear philosophy, right? If you want to watch less TV, move the TV out of the living room.”
“And that's the stuff I tried to talk about in my book is that people come in and they go, well, you know, we're unhappy with each other.”
“And so, there's a chapter in my book called Hits and Now, where I talk about exactly that, where I say, "You need to be able to have these conversations”
“There's a chapter in my book about nannies.”
“The advice I give in the book is is that I think that … wives can can embrace the part of themselves that's the nanny.”
“that's why my my book was called if you're in my office it's already too late like if you're in a divorced lawyer's office something has gone horribly wrong”
“if you came to my home and you saw the seven habits of highly effective people or you saw the Power of Habit by during you'd go look at Jim man he's successful”
“if you came to my home and you saw the seven habits of highly effective people or you saw the Power of Habit by during you'd go look at Jim man he's successful”
“I've always, I think I say it somewhere in the book that, you go to weddings and when the bride walks in,”